The New Generation
by packleader96
Summary: It has been seven years since the defeat of Shadow Blaze, life has returned to normal, and all seems peaceful, but when their parents go missing, and a new threat surfaces, it is up to the New Generation of Heroes, to stop it, before history repeats itself. rated T for Violence, Language, and some Sexuality.
1. prologue

**A/N: here it is, the continuation to the guardian series, note this will be the only story, which will continue from where the guardian series left off, well, hope you enjoy.**

**The New Generation: prologue**

It had now been five years since the war, and the memory of the battle had faded into memory, but the horrors of that battle still lingered in the minds, of the survivors.

The beautiful town of PonyVille, had been fully rebuilt, to its former glory, but with some new additions, the Princess's had allowed the construction of a royal guard air base, on the out skirts of town, now with a secure feeling of safety, the citizens of PonyVille, continued on with their lives, and were happy, but none more so, than two of our favorite heroes.

Twilight and Flame, as well as their two foals, Night Gale and Star Dust, were walking to the train station, Night Gale and Star Dust, had recently been accepted by the Canterlot University of Magic, and were as happy as young fillies.

But not all things are good, Twilight and Flame received the notice, that Night Gale and Star Dust would have to stay and live on campus, much to their disappointment, their Uncle Shining Armor and Aunt Cadence had agreed to watch over them, much to Twilight and Flame's relief.

Night Gale and Star Dust were scheduled to leave PonyVille by mid-day, and they were almost running late, but luckily they managed to make it on time.

By the time they got on to the platform, they saw that the passengers had slowly begun to board the train, Star Dust ran off, to go get the tickets they had reserved, while Night Gale turned to his parents, "now you're sure you got everything with you, your books, clothes, money" Twilight said with a nervous expression, Night Gale smiled at that, she had been over reacting, about it the entire time, since they got the letter.

"yes mom, I have everything, you can stop worrying, it's just the university" he said with a smile, Twilight looked up at him with a smile, "not just any university, the Canterlot University of Magic, is one of the most prestigious schools, in the kingdom, not everypony gets a chance to enroll there" she said, with a proud look, Flame chuckled and put his hoof on his son's shoulder.

"you'll do great, just remember what you've learned" he said with a smile, Night Gale smiled back, and turned to his mom, who had a sad expression on her face, he saw the faintest hint of tears in her eyes, he smiled and looked her in the eyes.

"we'll be fine mom, it's only college, we'll be back as soon as we make enough money for a train ticket, you know how expensive those are these days, in the meantime, we'll keep in touch by letters, and pictures, and stuff like that" he said, just as Star Dust ran back up to them, levitating two tickets with her magic.

"Okay got the tickets, come on Night Gale, the train is leaving soon" she said as Night Gale took his and put it in his coat pocket.

Star Dust ran up, and gave her mom and dad a big hug, "bye mom, bye dad, love you both" she said as she let go, Twilight and Flame looked at her with smiles, "we love you too, do your best, and don't stop trying, listen to your brother, and no fighting you two" Twilight said, with a happy tone.

"All aboard, the train for Canterlot!" the conductor yelled out, Star Dust looked back, and then turned to Night Gale, "okay, I'll go get to our seats" Star Dust said before she ran off and boarded the train but not before waving back to her parents, and soon she disappeared.

Twilight and Flame, turned back to their son, with a smile, Twilight leaned forward and pulled her son, into a hug, Flame stood their watching with a smile, "stay in touch, and look after your sister" she said as they separated, even by now, Night Gale had tears slowly forming in his eyes.

He soon, looked over to his dad, and he did the same, "just remember to do your best, be strong and you'll be fine, show them what your truly made of" Flame said, as they pulled apart, and Night Gale turned and walked around, he handed the conductor his ticket and started climbing up the stairs, but not before leaning back, and getting one last look at his parents.

He knew this wouldn't be the last time he saw them, but he knew it would a long time until he would see them again, face to face.

Soon the train started moving, and Night Gale looked at them, as a single tear flowed down his cheek, "we'll make you both proud!" he shouted over the engines, as he walked into the train, and found his sister, waiting patiently in their seats.

Flame again, wrapped his hoof around Twilight's shoulder, and they leaned their heads together, tears spilling down both of their cheeks, "we already are" Flame said, and they both watched as the train left the station, and onward to the capital city of Canterlot.

**A/N: well, what do you think, not bad for a first chapter, well, I'll be back with the next chapter soon, until then, peace.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: here it is, the next chapter, so…enjoy.**

**The New Generation: chapter 1: a letter from home**

It had been two years since Night Gale and Star Dust last saw their parents, but did what they promised, and kept in touch, through pictures and letters, and finally they had kept their side of the promise.

After saving up enough money, Night Gale and Star Dust managed to get themselves train tickets back to their home, they had just started their spring break, and they planned on spending it, with their parents.

Right now, Night Gale was in his dorm room, looking through a picture album, he was given by his mom, to store pictures in; it was filled with pictures from the day they arrived in Canterlot, to all the pictures, of his friends, and roommates.

As he was looking through the album, he suddenly heard knocking on the door; he sighed and put the book on the desk, and got up from his chair, and calmly walked over to the door.

He opened the door, and saw the one pony he knew all too well, standing in front of him, was his younger sister, Star Dust, in the recent years she had grown a lot, and was pretty much the same height as him, "hey Star Dust, what are you doing here?" he asked, with a raised eyebrow, she just smiled, and walked into the room.

"Oh, I just came by to see, if you have everything packed for the trip home" she said with a smile, as she dropped the bag, that she had over her shoulder, and put it on the floor, Night Gale sighed, and walked up to her, "yes, I'm all ready to go, did you reserve the tickets, like I asked?" he said, walking back up to the desk, and putting the album, in one of his bags, and zipped it up.

Star Dust began looking around the room, when she saw some of his school books on his bed, she sighed and turned to him, "have you been studying again?" she asked in an annoyed tone, he turned to her, with a nervous smile, "maybe I was, maybe I wasn't, remember what mom always said, there is never such a thing as too much studying" he said as he started throwing his bags on the bed.

She sighed, and looked over at him, "yeah bit in your case there is, like I've said before, you are at the top of all your classes, to most of your teacher's, you're an academic prodigy" she said, with an annoyed look on her face, he was about to speak up, when they heard another knock on the door.

Night Gale looked at the door and sighed, he walked up to it, and opened the door, standing outside was a mare, with a white coat and a light blue mane, she reminded him of her aunt Rarity, "oh hey, Crystal, come on in" he said as he stepped to the side, and motioned for her to enter, she smiled and walked up to him, "hey sweetie" she said giving him a quick kiss, on the lips.

Night Gale and crystal met, the first day of school, and became quick friends, and soon after, they found out that they both had a lot in common, and by the end of the year, they had become a couple, and were rarely seen apart, to many they seemed like the perfect couple.

"Hey Star Dust" Crystal said as she walked up to the younger mare, "oh hi, Crystal" she said back with a smile, Night Gale closed the door, and walked up to his marefriend, and wrapped his hoof around her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, as he looked at her, she smiled and looked back at him, "I just came over to check on you, and see if you wanted to go to the party later today" she asked getting in front of him, and smiling.

He smiled at her, "I can't, I still have to pack for our trip" he said with a smile, she returned his smile, and wrapped both her hooves around his neck, "what if I convince you" she said, with the smallest hint of lust in her voice.

He got her point and smiled, "oh, and how might you do that?" he said in a curious voice, Crystal smiled and placed her lips lightly on his, for a brief second, and pulled away, they both smiled, and Night Gale spoke up, "I might need a little more convincing" he said, as they both smiled again.

Crystal smiled, and leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips, they stayed like that for a few long seconds, until they heard Star Dust make gagging sounds from behind them, "uh, get a room, you two" she said looking away.

They both separated their lips, and turned to her, "hey, this is my room, we can do what we want in here, if you don't like it, you can leave" Night Gale said, Star Dust chuckled to herself, "yeah, and I would love to see, what would happen if your roommates walked in on you two…getting busy" she said, with a wink, and when they heard that, Night Gale and Crystal blushed.

It was after that, that they again, heard a knock on the door, "wow, you must be popular today" Star Dust said, as Night Gale walked over to the door, when he opened it up, he saw a pony he didn't recognize, he had a postal service uniform on, and a bag draped around his side.

"Excuse me, I am looking for a mister Night Gale" he said, taking his hat off, "I am Night Gale" he said with a formal tone, the mail pony, then reached into his bag, and pulled out a letter, "I have a letter for you sir" he said, as he handed it over, Night Gale used his magic to grab it, and watched as the mail pony, walked down the hall.

He slowly closed the door, and walked over to his desk, and opened the envelope with his letter opener, he threw the envelope in the trash, and unfolded, the letter, he smiled when he saw who it was from, "who's it from?" Star Dust asked walking up to him.

He turned to her, with a broad smile on his face, "it's from mom and dad" he said as he cleared his throat, and began to read off what it said.

_Dear, Night Gale and Star Dust._

_Your father and I can't wait for you two to come home; we decided to host a little party for your return, created by your aunt Pinkie and the rest of the family._

_But we also wanted to ask you night gale, if you would be bringing your marefriend Crystal with you, we heard so much about her in your letters, and we saw your pictures together, and we would love to meet her face to face._

_Your father and I will meet you at the train station when you arrive, can't wait to see you again._

_Love, mom and dad._

Night Gale, finished reading the letter and placed it down on the table, and looked up at the two mares, especially Crystal, who had a shocked look on her face.

"Well what do you say, Crystal, would you like to come with us and meet our parents, it would be fitting since we've been dating for almost two years now" he said walking up to her.

She brought her hoof up to her chin, and though about it, "well, my parents said they would be out of town, for spring break, sure I'd love to go and meet your parents" she said with a smile, Night Gale smiled as well.

"okay then, we'll be there for most of the break, so you might want to pack some clothes, and other essentials, we leave tomorrow, in the morning, but for now, let's go down to the party and have some fun" he said with a broad smile on his face, they all cheered and walked out the door.

**A/N: yeah, this is getting good, come back next time, to see the big family reunion.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: here is the next chapter, for all of you to enjoy.**

**The New Generation: chapter 2: the return home**

After receiving the letter from their parents, Night Gale, along with Crystal and Star Dust, spent their time down at the party, they spent the night dancing and having fun, until the time came for them to get some sleep.

Night Gale walked Crystal to her dorm, where she packed up some supplies, for their trip, the more she thought about it, the more nervous she became, but Night Gale was there to calm her down.

"ooh, I'm getting a little nervous, about meeting your parents" she said as they walked down the hall, towards Night Gale's room, since his roommates left to go be with their families, he pretty much had the room to himself, and he decided to let Crystal stay with him overnight, and they would meet up with Star Dust, at the university's main gate, in the morning.

Night Gale chuckled at her nervousness, "don't worry, my parents will love to meet you, their just simple ponyfolk, like me and Star Dust" he said, as they arrived at his room, he levitated the key up, and unlocked the door, they both walked in, and Night Gale switched on the light.

They both walked in, and Crystal set her things down, next to Night Gale's, she turned to him with a smile, suddenly Night Gale yawned loudly, "well, we should get to sleep, it will be a long ride to PonyVille" he said as he crawled into his bed, with Crystal following.

After they got under the covers, they turned to each other, and smiled, "goodnight, love" Crystal said, Night Gale smiled, and gently leaned in, and kissed her lightly on the lips, "good night, love you" he said as he turned to his side and clicked off the light, and the two fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

(The next morning)

Night Gale awoke to the sound of birds chirping, and the sun light hitting him directly in the eyes, he opened them, and groaned as he sat up in bed, and rubbed his eyes.

After he refocused his vision, he smiled as the warm rays from the sun, hit his coat, he turned to his side, and saw Crystal still fast asleep, he smiled and leaned over, and gently kissed on her forehead, "I love you" he said as he slowly crawled out of bed, and went to take a quick shower.

When he got in the shower, he turned the handle, and waited for the warm water to come out, he sighed happily, as the water hit his coat, he stayed there for a few minutes, before he quickly got out of the shower, after he dried himself off; he went over to the counter and made two cups of tea.

Then while he waited for Crystal to wake up, he made them both a quick breakfast, consisting of two small hay sandwiches, and the tea.

Just then he heard another pony groan, and the bed sheets rustle, he looked up and saw Crystal sitting up in bed, he saw that her eyes were still half closed, but she had a smile on her face, "good morning, sleep well?" he asked as he took a sip of his tea, she smiled and crawled out of bed, "oh yes, very good" she said as she stretched and walked over to him, "well, it appears we woke up earlier than we planned, I made some breakfast, why don't you go take a shower, and I'll get our things ready" he said, she smiled, and leaned up to kiss him, "sounds like a great idea" she said as she walked over to the bathroom and closed the door.

Night Gale smiled, as he took a bite from his sandwich, he heard the sound of rushing water come up from the bathroom, he looked up at the clock, and sighed, they had about a half hour until they would meet up with Star Dust.

He put his sandwich down and walked over to their bags, he did one last look, to make sure he had everything, it must have taken him longer than he thought, because he heard the water turn off, and the door open, he turned around, and watched Crystal walk out, with a towel wrapped around her mane.

As she walked up to the counter, Night Gale couldn't help but notice, the sunlight reflecting off her still damp coat, making it shine, he smiled as he remembered the first day they met, many ponies said they couldn't be together, mainly because her mom and dad, were members of the royal court, and very rich, while he was just a simple pony from the country, with nothing special in his life.

He was taken from his thoughts, when he heard her speak up, "Night Gale, are you ready to go, hello anypony home?" she said, getting in front of him.

He shook it off, and smiled at her, "huh, oh yeah, I'm all ready" he said turning and putting his bags on the bed, "what were you looking at?" she said with a sly smile, "oh, I was just looking at you, your beautiful" he said, with a smile and she blushed.

Night Gale looked up at the clock, and saw that it was time to leave, "well, it's time to go meet Star Dust, sorry but we'll have to get a better meal, when we get to PonyVille" he said as he but his two bags on his shoulder, and opened the door, he motioned for her to go first, she levitated her bags over her shoulders, and calmly walked out the door, Night Gale turned around and locked it, before he switched off the light, and closed it behind him.

(Later…)

After they had met up with Star Dust at the University gate, they called a taxi and rode it all the way to the train station, when they arrived Night Gale sent Star Dust to get their tickets, while they waited for her, Night Gale turned to Crystal, and saw the nervous expression on his face, he smiled and stepped in front of her.

"sweetie, listen to me, you have nothing to worry about, I'm sure my parents will be happy to finally meet you" he said kissing her on the forehead, it was then that they heard a pony clear their throat from behind, they turned and saw Star Dust standing there with an annoyed look on her face, levitating the tickets.

"well, if you two are done kissing each other, we need to get on the train" she said as she handed them their tickets and went to board the train, Night Gale and Crystal looked at each other, and walked up to the conductor and handed them their tickets, after that they climbed on the train, and found Star Dust sitting in their seats.

They sat down, just as the train began to move out of the station, and slowly made its way back to their hometown.

(Later that day…)

It was well into noon when the beautiful town of PonyVille came into view, Star Dust peeked out the window, "oh, I'm so excited" she said hardly able to control herself, like a young filly, Night Gale laughed, "hey Star Dust, I'm more than happy to see mom and dad again too, but seriously, calm down" he said as he smiled, he turned to Crystal, who still had a nervous look on her face, despite what Night Gale told her, but how could he blame her, he remembered when he met Crystal's parents.

They were very nice ponies, and they got along well, much to Crystal's relief, his was again brought from his thoughts, by being jerked forward, he realized that the train was slowly pulling into the station; the all looked out the window, but at first didn't see any sign of their parents.

One by one, they exited the station, and looked around, the cloud of smoke from the engine, made it hard to see at first, but they walked along the platform, for a few minutes, and still didn't see them, "hmm, they said in their letter, that they would meet us at the train station" Night Gale said looking around.

"What if they thought we were coming on a different day?" Star Dust said worriedly, "I sure hope not" Night Gale said as he continued to look, until they finally got their response, "what two years have passed, and you don't even recognize your own parents anymore" came a male voice from behind, one that the two ponies in mention, quickly recognized.

They slowly turned around, and saw two familiar looking ponies, standing behind them, both Night Gale and Star Dust, had wide smiles on their faces, as they put down their bags and ran over to them, and when they got up to them, they threw their hooves around their necks, "we missed you so much" Star Dust said on the verge of tears as she hugged her dad.

They both separated, and smiled, "we've missed you too, it's been quite and lonely, without you two, running around the house" Twilight said, as Star Dust hugged her, and Night Gale hugged Flame.

Crystal, who had watched the entire scene, slowly began to walk over there, just as Night Gale and Flame, separated, "so where's this special somepony, you've been telling us about?" Twilight asked with a wide smile, "okay mom, but keep it on a low level, she already nervous enough as it is" Night Gale said with an annoyed face.

"oh come on son, we don't mean any harm, we just want to meet the mare, that our son is interested in, that's all, but okay we'll play it cool" Flame said, with a laugh, Night Gale smiled, and turned around, and motioned for the white coated mare to walk up, she slowly walked up to them, with a smile on her face, when she walked up next to Night Gale, he wrapped his hoof around her shoulder, and turned to his parents.

"mom, dad, this is Crystal" he said, Twilight and Flame smiled, and Flame extended his hoof out, "it's nice to meet you, I'm Flame, Night Gale and Star Dust's father, and this is my wife, Twilight Sparkle" he said making it as formal as possible.

She smiled and shook his hoof, and turned to Twilight, "oh it's so nice to meet you face to face, Night Gale talks about you all the time" she said, slowly Crystal felt more and more at ease, around them, "yes, Night Gale talks about you all the time as well, it's an honor to meet you" she said in a proper tone.

They stayed there like that, for a few minutes, "well, let's not stand around here, all day, we have a surprise for you three" Twilight said as the two of them turned and walked away, the three younger unicorns, looked at each other, and quickly followed after them.

**A/N: well, here it is, if it seems slow at first, I apologize, things will pick up in the next chapter, see you then.**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: well, here's the next chapter, enjoy everybody, like I said, this is where things get interesting.**

**The New Generation: chapter 3: the big surprise**

As Twilight and Flame, led the three younger unicorns back to the library, they all decided to talk, mainly because Twilight and Flame, had questions to ask, Crystal.

"So, Crystal, when did you meet our son?" Twilight asked, looking over at the younger mare, Night Gale gave an annoyed sigh, but Crystal just smiled, "oh, Night Gale and I met on the first day of school, and we started dating later in the year, and we've been together ever since" she said looking back at the blushing stallion.

Twilight and Flame smiled at each other, as they continued walking, "what is it that your parents do Crystal?" Flame asked, as they came into town square, and walked across, again she smiled, "well, actually my mom and dad, are part of the royal court" she said proudly, and Twilight and Flame were both completely surprised.

"Well, that is something" Twilight said, as they turned another corner, and saw the library, "well, here we are, come on in" Twilight walked up to the door, and when they did they were greeted only by darkness, "what happened to the lights, Flame I thought you said you fixed that?" Twilight said trying to find her way in the darkness, "but I did" Flame said with the faintest hint of a smile on their faces.

"Mom, dad, did you forget where the light switch was?" Night Gale said, reaching to the side, and flipping the switch, and filling the room with light, they were completely shocked by what happened next.

"SURPRISE!" came multiple voices, nearly giving the three of them heart attacks, Night Gale fell on his back, and covered his heart, when he looked up, he saw multiple familiar faces, standing in front of him, was not only his parents, but every other member of his family.

He got up, and calmed down, he looked around with a broad smile, and saw the entire main room, decorated with balloons, and confetti, he saw a certain pink pony, jumping around, and she ran up and hugged him tightly.

"Welcome back, how's are little university students?" Pinkie said as she pulled the two siblings into a tight hug, "Ugh, it's good to see you again too, aunt Pinkie" Night Gale said, as he tried to breath.

She let them go, and walked to the other side of the room, while they caught their breath, the rest of their family members came up to them, from his uncle Shining Armor and aunt Cadence, to his uncle Dark Star and aunt Applejack, everypony from his family was there.

"Now this I didn't expect" he said with a smile, and turned and saw his parents laughing, he received hugs and presents from all of his family members, he turned to Crystal, which was pushed to the side, by the other ponies.

He believed it was time for Crystal to meet her family; he grabbed her hoof, and brought her over to his aunt and uncle, he cleared his throat, "uncle Shining armor, aunt Cadence, this is my mare friend, Crystal, she is spending spring break, with me, while her parents are away" he said, Shining Armor extended his hoof out, and shook hers, which she didn't mind.

He them gestured to the younger filly, "this is my cousin, Melody" he said, she came up to them and said hi, despite being in the royal guard; she was still some times shy.

He then brought her over to another group, of ponies, a stallion, in a special service uniform, as well as two younger ponies, and even a younger filly, "Crystal, this is my uncle Silver, and his son, Comet, and his wife Meadow Dawn" he said, Silver smiled, "well, it is certainly nice to meet you, my you are beautiful, you remind me of my wife, before she passed away" he said with a smile, Crystal frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that" she said in a sympathetic tone.

"It's okay, you two enjoy yourselves, it's your party after all" Silver said as he walked away, and Night Gale spent the rest of the time, introducing Crystal to his family.

Soon, the night began to fall, and everypony went their separate ways, as the party was cleaned up, Twilight and Flame walked up to Night Gale, who was talking with Crystal, Night Gale turned to them with a smile, "mom, dad, thank you, the party was a blast, we really enjoyed ourselves" Night Gale said, as he wrapped his hoof around Crystal's shoulder.

They both smiled, "think nothing of it, we just wanted to make your return home, special, but there is something else we need to talk to you about" they said as their smiles disappeared, by this time Star Dust walked over, "what is it, did something happen?" Night Gale asked with a hint of curiosity, in his voice.

"oh no, nothing like that, it's just that your father and I, have been called to Canterlot, on important business, us as well as the other adults, will be gone for a few days, but we will be back in time, to celebrate your return" Twilight said with a cheerful look, Night Gale frowned, and looked from Crystal to Star Dust.

"Oh, when are you leaving?" he said, with a small hint of sadness in his voice, "our train is scheduled to leave early in the morning, probably before you get up, but don't worry, we'll be back before the week is out, sorry to tell you this now, but we wanted to know if you could watch everypony for that time" Flame said, with a serious look.

This surprised Night Gale, "yeah sure, but where will they be staying?" he asked with a surprised look on his face, "well, we were planning on letting them stay here, in the spare room, plus I'm sure, you can let them stay here, Solar Glaze, will be staying at the farm, so no worries, you two can stay in our room, when we leave" Twilight said.

Night Gale sighed, he had a bad feeling about this, but he pushed that feeling aside, and looked up at his parents, "yeah sure, I can do it, no problem" he said with more enthusiasm, Twilight and Flame smiled, and looked at each other, "excellent, we will be gone before you wake up, so we need to get to bed now, don't stay up to late you two" they said as they walked up the stairs, and were gone.

Soon after, everypony came back, with their own sleeping gear, Star Dust offered for Melody, and Aurora, to stay and her room, which they quickly agreed, much to Night Gale and Crystal's relief, so it would give them more time alone.

Well, into the night, Crystal and Night Gale, finished up the cleaning, today had been a busy day, Crystal tuned to Night Gale with a smile, "I really enjoyed meeting your family, it was a blast" she said in a happy tone, Night Gale turned to her with a smile.

"I'm glad" he said and was stopped by a loud yawn, "oh, I'm beat, let's get some shut eye, tomorrow, I can give you the grand tour, show what it's like growing up in the country" he said as they walked up the stairs, and crossed the hall, until they came into Night Gale's old room.

He opened the door, and was surprised, "wow, they actually kept it the way I left it" Night Gale said surprised, he took their bags and set them near the closet, he turned and saw Crystal leaning against the bed, a sly smile on her face.

"now that we have some alone time, maybe we could have a little fun" she said with a seductive tone, Night Gale smiled, and walked over to her, "but, may parents are in the other room" he said with a sly grin, she leaned over and kissed him quickly on the lips, "yeah, we're not 'doing it', we're just going to have some fun" she said, and Night Gale smiled.

He leaned in a kissed her passionately on the lips, they stayed like that, before Night Gale pushed her up on the bed, and landed on top of her, they both laughed as they continued to kiss each other.

After about few minutes, Night Gale looked over at the clock, "we should get to bed" he said with a smile, as he rolled off her, "oh, you're no fun, anymore" she said with a pouting face, he chuckled to himself, and leaned over and turned off the light, leaving them in darkness.

**A/N: well, that was definitely interesting, told you so, anyway more will come in the next chapter. **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: okay, here's the next chapter, now things will get interesting, that I'm sure of.**

**The New Generation: chapter 4: walk around town**

Night Gale and Crystal, woke to the sun shining brightly in their eyes, they rolled on to their sides, and stared at each other with smiles on their faces, their faces were only a few inches apart.

"Good morning, sleep well?" he asked, with a smile, she giggled, and kissed him on the nose, "you bet I did" she said, soon after they both climbed out of bed, and got ready for the day, while Crystal was combing her mane, Night Gale looked up at the clock and saw that it was earlier than he though.

So they made their way down to the main room, where Night Gale went into the kitchen, and made them some tea, to wake them up.

As Night Gale approached the counter, he saw a hoof written note on it, he levitated it up, and read what was on it, "hey, it's a letter from out parents" he said as he began to read it out loud.

_Dear Night Gale and Star Dust._

_By the time you read this, we will be gone, we took the train to Canterlot, earlier this morning, but don't you worry, we will write too you soon._

_If you need anything, there's some extra money in the drawer, have fun, and contact us if there are any problems._

_Love, mom and dad._

He put the note down on the counter, and turned to Crystal, who was levitating, a tray with a small sandwich on it, he smiled and took it, and they both sat at the table, and began to eat, after he took his first bite, Night Gale stopped and looked up at Crystal.

She looked up at him, and returned his smile, "so, what do you want to do today?" she asked, taking another bite, he smiled, "well, I thought I'd give you a little tour, of the town, let you see the sites, give you a taste of what it's like to live in the country" he said as he took another bite, and swallowed.

"that sounds great, I'd love too" she said, as they continued talking, they suddenly heard the sound of somepony walking down the stairs, and into the kitchen, the next thing they saw was a very sleepy Star Dust walk into the kitchen, her mane hadn't been brushed, Night Gale chuckled, "well, good morning, somepony slept good I take it" he said with a smile.

Star Dust looked over at them, and smiled, it was then that Night Gale looked up at the clock, he turned to Crystal and smiled, she smiled back as they got up from their sitting positions, "well, Crystal and I, are going for a walk, can you watch the others, while were gone, we'll be back later today" he said as they made their way to the door, Star Dust nodded her head, Night Gale smiled and they both slipped out the door.

(Later…)

It was well in the middle of the day, as Night Gale and Crystal, walked into town square, the whole time Crystal was amazed by her surroundings, being born and raised in Canterlot, she was used to the streets of the big city, not the calm and quiet streets of a country town.

"Wow, I love it here, it's so different from Canterlot" she said as they made their way past the town hall, Night Gale smiled, as they continued to walk together.

"Yeah, it's always nice here" he said with a smile, Crystal looked at him, with a curious look on her face, "speaking of which, how did you, a pony from the country, enroll at a University in Canterlot?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

He looked at her with a smile, and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, maybe I wanted to challenge myself, and prove that just because you're from the country, doesn't mean you're not Canterlot material, and beside if I didn't go, I never would have met you, and don't know what I'd do with myself, if I didn't, you're the best thing that's ever happened in my life" he said with a smile, Crystal had never heard such a sweet thing from him.

She smiled at him, and nuzzled up under his chin, they stayed like that, for a few minutes, until they heard an odd noise, suddenly Crystal's stomach began to growl, ruining their special moment, she blushed heavily, and smiled nervously, Night Gale just chuckled.

"I guess I'm still hungry, that sandwich was small, so what's a good place to eat around here, Mister Country" she said with a playful shove on the shoulder.

He smiled as an idea formed in his head, "I think I might know the place, you like sweet stuff?" he asked with a smile, she nodded her head, "alright then, follow me" he said as he made his way to the best sweet shop in town.

After walking for a few minutes, they came across a building, that Night Gale knew all too well, they walked into the building, and suddenly their nostrils, were filled with the sweetest smells, "what is that, it smells delicious?" Crystal said, with a surprised look, they all walked around, and saw multiple ponies, sitting at tables, eating cakes and pies, and all sorts of sweet treats.

As they approached the main counter, a stallion, with a yellow colored coat stepped out, with a box full of cupcakes in it, he laced it on the counter, and the pony standing in front of it, grabbed it in his mouth, and happily walked out the door, Night Gale knew this stallion all too well.

"Hello there, Mr. Cake" he said, as they approached, the counter, the pony in mention, turned around with a surprised expression on his face, but then he smiled, "well, if it isn't Night Gale, how have you been, how's life in Canterlot" he said with a smile, as Night Gale and Crystal walked up to the counter.

"Oh it's great, how's business here?" Night Gale asked as they got there, Mr. Cake smiled, and leaned over the edge, he smiled, "oh business is good, I heard you and Star Dust would be back in town, it's very nice to see you again…oh, and who is this beautiful young mare you have with you?" he said in a surprised tone, Crystal smiled and blushed.

Night Gale smiled, and wrapped his hoof around her shoulder, "this is my marefriend Crystal, and she's staying with me for spring break, while her parents are out of town" he said with a smile, and he looked up at the older pony, Mr. Cake smiled and looked back at Night Gale.

"Well, that sure is nice, young love; anyway, what can I get for you?" he said with a smile, Night Gale thought about it for a moment and looked back at him, "I think we will have, two slices of your best chocolate cake" he said with a broad smile, as he reached into his bag to pay for it.

"How much will it be?" he said, but Mr. Cake shook his head, "oh no, this one's on the house, a little welcome home gift" he said with a smile, Night Gale was surprised at first, but smiled and closed his bags, "go and have a seat, Pumpkin Cake will be out shortly with your cake" he said as he walked back into the kitchen, Night Gale and Crystal smiled, and walked over and took their seats at a table not far from the counter.

"Wow, he actually gave it to you for free, nopony in Canterlot ever does that" she said with a surprised look, Night Gale chuckled, "well, the Cakes, are good friends of our parents, plus our aunt Pinkie, works with them" he said as a mare a little older than Night Gale stepped out, levitating two plates, with a piece of cake on each.

She set them down, in front of the two, and turned to Night Gale, "well, look who finally decided to return to out humble little town, mister big shot" she said with a smile, Night Gale looked up at her with a smile, "yeah, it's nice to see you too, anyway, I'm only here for spring break, and then it's back to Canterlot" Night Gale said with a broad smile, the older mare gave an annoyed sigh, but still smiled.

"oh yeah, you're getting too good for PonyVille, leaving us all behind, and moving on into the world, where you'll forget all about us" she said with a smile, Night Gale knew she was kidding, but didn't mind it, "come on now, you know I will always have a place left in my mind and heart, for this simple little town, after all I was born and raised here" he said, Pumpkin Cake just laughed, "okay then, I'll leave you two alone now, enjoy" she said as she walked back into the kitchen.

Crystal looked at Night Gale with a confused look, Night Gale only chuckled, "oh don't mind here, she loves to joke around" he said, he remembered all of aunt Pinkie's crazy stories about foalsitting, the two of them when they were only babies, and how much they used to drive her crazy.

Night Gale pushed that to the side, and used his magic and grabbed a piece of the cake, and brought it up to his mouth, and ate it, he sighed as the rich taste came back, he loved the Cake's sweets, in his opinion, they were the nest in all of Equestria.

He looked up at Crystal, he watched as she levitated the fork up to her mouth, and ate it, he watched with a grin, as her eyes suddenly widened, and she shuttered in delight, he laughed as she swallowed, and a smile appeared on her face, "whoa, that is the best cake I have ever tasted" she said with a wide smile on her face, and immediately took another bite.

They sat there eating their cake, the entire time, Crystal was listening to Night Gale, telling about his adventures around PonyVille, and how it was like growing up here, the entire time she was fascinated.

After they had finished eating, they were both full, and happy, Night Gale looked over at the clock, and saw it as well past noon, he stretched and looked over at her, "well, I think it's time to head back home, the others are probably starting to worry" he said as they got up, and slowly made their way to the door, Night Gale looked back and waved goodbye, as they left the building.

After walking through the streets, they found themselves standing outside the library, "well, maybe tomorrow, I'll show you my old school, you can meet my teacher, she is one of the nicest ponies, you will ever meet" he said, Crystal smiled up at him, "that sound like a great idea" she said as they walked inside.

(Two days later…)

Since their parents had left, Night Gale and Star Dust have been relaxing, and taking walks around town, Night Gale took Crystal too many places, every time she loved it, but there was something nagging at the back of Night Gale's head.

Since they left, Night Gale and Star Dust, hadn't received a single letter from their parents, and they were now starting to worry.

As they all sat in the living room, suddenly they heard a knock on the door, and Star Dust ran up to answer it, standing in front of her, stood a pony dressed in a mail service uniform, Night Gale heard them taking in the distance, and the door closing, he got up and turned to her, and she used her magic to go through the mail.

"Anything at all?" he asked, with a hint of worry in his voice, Star Dust just sighed and set it down on the table, "no, nothing but bills, and junk mail, they said in the letter that they would write soon, but that was two days ago, do you think something might have happened?" she asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

A part of Night Gale was thinking the same thing, but he didn't want to believe it, "I'm trying not to think about it, but maybe the mail is getting mixed up, remember how many times that happened" he said trying to cheer her up, luckily it seemed to work.

Just then, they heard another knock on the door, he sighed with relief, and slowly made his way to the door, "you see, that might be them or a neighbor, with our letter" he said as he opened the door, but what he saw outside was something completely different, it made his smile disappear, and his eyes widen in fear.

Standing outside the door, were too ponies, with very stoic expressions on their faces, Night Gale noticed the uniform they were dressed in, it certainly wasn't any mail service uniform.

He looked on the shoulder, and saw the symbol for the E.S.S., they were rarely ever seen in PonyVille, they only appeared when something bad must have happened.

"Are you Night Gale?" one of them asked, at first Night Gale didn't know how to answer, but he tried to do it as formally as possible, "yes I am" he said with a nervous expression, the two officers looked at each other, and looked behind him, at the other ponies in the room, they finally turned back to him.

"We need you and your family to come with us, this is a matter of national security" the other one said, Night Gale felt some sweat roll down his face, and he gulped nervously.

**A/N: well, what do you know, don't you just hate cliffhangers, well, see you next time to find out what happens.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: well, here's the next chapter, now s when things get really interesting.**

**The New Generation: chapter 5: relocation**

Night Gale stared at the two officers, with fear in his eyes, he remembered the feeling he got when his mom and dad, first told him that they would be leaving, and now it was coming back.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, the two officers looked at each other, "may we come in?" the same one asked, deciding not to argue, Night Gale stepped to the side, and they entered the room, they began looking around, while night gale walked back over to Star Dust.

Suddenly he decided to speak up, "um, excuse me, but what exactly is going on?" he asked, one of the officers turned to him, and sighed, "very well, there's been an incident…with your parents" he said with a sad expression, now it was complete, the feeling Night Gale had before, returned as he felt his heart beat quicken, and his eyes widen.

"What do you mean, are they okay, did something bad happen to them?" he asked frantically, the guards remained calm, "we're not sure, that is why, we need you to come with us, Princess Celestia has personally requested you" he said, Night Gale looked back at the others, who all shared his feelings.

He turned back to the officers, with a sad expression, "okay, but we have stuff here…" he said before he was cut off, when one of the officer's raised his hoof, "don't worry, some more officers will be back for your belongings, later in the day, but right now we need to get moving, even as we speak, your all in danger" the officer said, as the two of them walked back to the door.

Night Gale again looked back at them, they all has sad expressions on their faces, but knowing that the officers were right, and something had happened to their parents, he knew that they really didn't have a choice.

He turned to the officers, and began to follow them, as they reached the door; he looked back and saw that Aurora was standing still, with a sorrowful expression on her face.

He sighed and walked up to her, and knelt down, and lifted her head up, he saw tears forming in her eyes, "it's going to be okay, Aurora, everything will be fine" he said, she sniffled and looked him in the eyes, "are my mom and dad going to be okay?" she said through teary eyes, "sorry, but we don't have a lot of time, we need to go" he heard one of the officers say, he looked back and sighed, he then turned to the young filly.

Being the youngest of them, she was most affected by the news, he did his best to smile, and placed a hoof on her shoulder, "I'm sure their fine, and they would want you to be strong" he said, even though deep down he didn't know if they were alright, but he had hope, the younger filly, wiped the tears away, and tried her nest to smile.

They then turned around, and walked out the door, followed by the two E.S.S. officers, they had a long journey ahead of them.

(Later…)

After making their way through the town, they all became confused, when they left the town, and walked along the path up to the royal guard air base, they all looked around as they were taken on to the air field.

They all looked up, and were shocked beyond belief, sitting in front of them, was a massive air ship, prepared for launch, they had never seen one up close, the only time they saw them, was when they would land, but even then, they rarely passed over the town.

As they stared up in awe, they suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind, "hey Night Gale!" a young male voice called out, they all turned and saw a young colt running towards them, they smiled when they recognized him as their cousin Solar Glaze, he stopped in front of them.

"hey Solar Glaze, what happened, I take it they came for you as well" Night Gale said in an obvious tone, Solar Glaze nodded, "yeah, I was just helping my Uncle Macintosh, around the ranch, when suddenly they showed up, and told me to come with them, they told me what happened, is it true? He said with a very worried expression on his face.

Night Gale only sighed, and looked down at him, "I'm not sure, let's hope not, but hopefully we will get some answers, soon" he said as a different guard came up to them, "sorry to interrupt, but we need to get you in the air ship, follow me" he said as he lead them up the ramp, and into the massive vessel.

They looked around curiously, it was there first time being inside an active duty air ship, but they were quickly moved along, and shortly the found themselves on the flight deck, many ponies sitting at their positions, they looked forward and saw a pony directing all the others, they could only guess, he was the captain.

"sir, we are ready for launch" one of the soldiers said, "excellent, let's get out of here" he said as he turned around, and walked up to the confused ponies, and as he did the engines roared to life and the entire ship shook, as it began ascending into the air, "ah, glad you're here, welcome aboard, we are just about to take off, make yourselves comfortable" he said, as he slowly began to turn away, but then Night Gale spoke up.

"how about you tell us, why we are here" he said in a serious tone, making the stallion stop and turn back to them, with a calm face, he smiled, "ah yes, but first introductions, I am commander Striker, it's a pleasure to meet you" he said extending his hoof, Night Gale hesitated at first but grabbed it and shook it, "wait, you work with my mom and dad" Aurora said with a surprised look, Striker smiled and looked down at her, "yes I do, your grandfather, is an old friend of mine" he said.

Commander Striker smiled, and brought his hoof down, and as he did his smile disappeared, and was replaced with a serious tone, "I believe we have the right to know why we have been taken from our homes" Night Gale said with a raised eyebrow, Striker looked from him to the officers behind him, and then back to Night Gale.

He sighed, and looked at all the other behind him, "very well then, you have a point" he said as he made himself comfortable, "let me tell you what we know so far, two days ago all of your parents, boarded a train to Canterlot, as it made its way there, a very odd thing happened, we suddenly lost contact with the train, and it disappeared off the radar, and we could no longer get a signal, we were forced to wait until it arrived later that day, but the odd thing was that it never did" he said, as he looked up, and saw the confused look on their faces.

"yes as weird as it may sound, it's all true, the train never arrived, our air ships searched the entire track, between PonyVille and Canterlot, there is no, secondary route they might have taken, and there was no sign of the train anywhere, according to out radar it completely vanished from the maps, without a trace" he said in a serious tone, as he led them over to a table, with a map sitting on it.

They all gathered around the table, "we have reasons to believe, that the train, went off the radar, right about…here" he said pointing to the spot where the train tracks came into the mountains, "many times we lose contact with trains as they enter the mountains, but we still manage to track it, but this one completely disappeared" he said, Night Gale and the others, were equally as confused as he is.

They all looked up at him, "do we have any idea, who could be behind this?" Crystal asked, speaking for the first time, since they first left the library, striker looked up at her, and then at the rest of them, "there are many possibilities, many rebels have lived in the mountains, since the end of the war, which I'm sure you are all familiar with, but we can't be sure, and if they have been taken, the ponies behind it, haven't made any demands yet, so that leaves us, as clueless as all you" he said with a worried look on his face.

Night Gale looked up at him, with a serious look on his face, "well, what do we do now, there has to be some way of finding them" he said, while trying to remain calm, Striker turned from the table, and watched as the clouds passed by, "the Princess has called you to the castle, we believe that if your parents have been taken, then the ones who took them, would come for you next, so the princess made it absolutely necessary that we get you to Canterlot, she will speak to you, about getting your parents back, but for now, it is about a day's journey until we each Canterlot, there are some spare rooms down below, I suggest you get some rest, we will alert you, when we have reached Canterlot" he said, as he walked back over to, the other ponies.

Night Gale and the others, all exchanged worried glances, but they were then lead down below deck, to their rooms, most of them were given separate rooms, except for Night Gale and Crystal who asked to be in the same room.

Night Gale leaned up against the desk in their room; he was trying to suppress his anger, and was having very little success doing so, he suddenly slammed his hoof on the desk, making it shake, and startling Crystal, "damn it!" he suddenly shouted, Crystal watched him with a worried glance, she had rarely seen him angry, but this was different, she walked over to him, and tried to comfort him.

"Night Gale, it's going to be okay" she said, as she put a hoof on his shoulder, he sighed angrily and shrugged it off, "you don't know that, our parents our missing, and the commander is hiding something, I just know it, how would you feel if your parents went missing" he said, with anger in his voice, normally she would have been angry with him, for talking to her like that, but now it was different, he had good reason to be mad.

"Night Gale listen to me, I'm sure your parents are fine" she said still trying to calm him down, and it slowly seemed to work, for he replied more calmly, "you can't know for sure, as much as I hate to say this, but…how do we even know if they are alive, they could be dead for all we know, or maybe their being tortured, or something like that" he said with a mix of fear, sadness, and anger in his voice.

She sighed sadly, and again put her hoof on his shoulder, but instead of pushing it off, he grabbed it and turned around, and looked her in the eyes, he let go of her hoof and brought it up to, her face, and in return she brought her own hoof up to his, a small tear fell from his left eye, she used her hoof to brush it away, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said what I did" he said, with a sincere tone, although she didn't say anything, she did forgive him.

She leaned forward and kissed him deeply on the lips, which he gladly accepted, they stayed like that for a few minutes, when they separated, they stared into each other's eyes, this was the first time, they had anything close to a fight, but there would be more.

"everything's going to be fine" she said, he frowned at her, "how can you be sure, with everything that's happened" he said, she nuzzled her nose against his, "because I have faith, and so should you, I'm here, Star Dust is here, your family is here, you're not alone, you're the oldest, you have to be strong…for them" she said, as they leaned their heads together, and their foreheads touching.

They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other's company, until they finally decided to get some sleep, for little did they know, that the next day, would hold even more surprises for them, one's that would change their lives forever.

**A/N: well, what do you think, nice right, the next chapter will be up soon, peace.**


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: I apologize for the wait everybody, but I'm back with the next chapter, enjoy.

The New Generation: chapter 6: a truth revealed

Through out the night, Night Gale found it increasingly impossible to sleep, bad thoughts plagued his mind, and kept him awake, he couldn't stop thinking about his parents, he as much as everypony, wanted to know what happened, but it seemed like he was more anxious.

The commander had promised that they would get there answers, when they arrived in Canterlot, which they were all waiting for.

Finally, Night Gale and Crystal woke up, to the sun shining in their eyes; they both groaned as they sat up, they looked around for a few minutes, it took them some time, but they finally remembered that they were still on the air ship.

They got up and stretched, while Crystal walked over and began to brush her mane, just as Night Gale finished rubbing his eyes, they heard a knock on the door, catching them both by surprise, Night Gale turned to Crystal with a confused look, but he slowly made his way over to the door.

He reached up and opened it, revealing a pony dressed in the E.S.S. uniform, a calm yet serious look on his face, before he could speak up, the guard began talking, "sorry to disturb you, but I've been told to inform you that, we are approaching Canterlot, when you are ready, the commander wishes to speak to you" he said before he turned away and walked down the hall, leaving a confused Night Gale.

After a few minutes of getting ready, they both made their way to the main flight deck.

Just as they walked up the steps, they looked over to the front, to see all the rest of them, standing around the same table, with the commander waiting patiently, he looked up and saw them, he smiled as he gestured for them to come up, but deep down, Night Gale still had a feeling that the commander was hiding something, and he wanted to know, what it was.

They walked up to it, and took their spot, Night Gale still had a distrust full look, "ah, I trust you had a good night sleep?" he said looking over at Night Gale, Crystal smiled and nodded her head, trying to be polite, but that wasn't how Night Gale felt, "yeah, when do we get to help, find our parents" he said in a matter of fact tone.

The commander looked up at him, with a serious face, "I told you, the only one who can answer that, is Princess Celestia" he said in a tone that matched his expression, Night Gale frowned, and was about to speak up, but stopped when another pony, walked up to the commander, and whispered something into his ear, making him smile.

He turned and looked up at Night Gale, "well, good news, you'll get your answers soon, we are approaching Canterlot right now" he said as he turned and walked away, he gestured for the others to follow him, Night Gale hesitated at first, and walked over, looking out the window, the saw the castle, coming into view, and slowly the ship made its way over to it.

The commander looked down at one of the soldiers, who sat in front of the screen, he nodded, and the soldier turned and reached up to the communications device, the commander and the others, turned and watched as the ship, approached the Canterlot airfield.

The soldier adjusted his head set, and cleared his throat, "come in control tower, this is the Crimson Sky, requesting permission to land, at Canterlot airfield, do you copy?" he asked, at first all he received was static, until another voice, from the other end of the line spoke up.

"_This is control tower, we copy you Crimson Sky, you are cleared for landing"_ the voice said, and slowly the ship began to descend, and after a few minutes, the ship shook, signaling that they had landed successfully, the commander turned to Night Gale and the others, with a serious look on his face, "follow me" he said as he made his way below deck, and to the exit, the others hesitated, but quickly followed after him.

(Canterlot castle, outside the throne room)

After leading the off the airfield and into the throne room, the commander walked them up to a set of large doors, which they assumed led to the throne room, he turned to them, with a calm and serious expression.

"a word of advice, be honest" he said before he looked at the guards, they nodded and used their magic to open the doors, and they slowly walked in, Night Gale and the others, were simply amazed by their surroundings, when they looked forward, they saw the regal and majestic Princess Celestia, sitting on her throne, with a troubled expression on her face.

When they were about half-way into the room, the commander stopped, and took a bow, the others caught the hint, and gave the best bow they could, just as they did, the Princess opened her eyes, and looked down at them, "thank you commander, that will be all for now" she said, and with that the commander stood up, made his way to the door.

As it slowly closed behind him, the Princess got up and slowly descended the stairs, and calmly walked over to them, "I trust by now, you are wondering why I called you all here?" she said, as they all rose from their positions, and stood up straight.

At first they didn't speak, but being the oldest, Night Gale opened his mouth to speak, "yes, your highness" he said, trying to sound formal, Celestia sighed and walked over to the window, and looked out at the city, "I called here, because something terrible has happened, I'm sure you are aware by now, that two days ago, your parents went missing, as well, as the train they were on" she said as she walked back to them, but they remained silent.

"But, that is not the only reason" she said in a calm tone, this caught them all by surprise, "I'm not sure we understand your highness" Star Dust said, speaking up.

The princess sighed sadly, and turned away for a moment, her breathing became shaky, but she continued on, "I brought you here, so you could learn the truth…the truth that has been hidden from you, your entire lives" she said as she still faced away from them, the Night Gale and the others were now completely confused.

"I'm not sure we understand what your saying, what truth?" Night Gale asked, getting more and more anxious.

The Princess turned around, and looked at them, a sorrowful look in her eye, "before I tell you, I must know, what you all know about the war" she said, looking at all of them, this caught them all off guard, being enrolled at the university, one of Night Gale's classes, was recent Equestrian history, he did remember learning about the great war, that happened years back, before they were born.

He remembered when he first learned about back, when he was in school, back in PonyVille, he remembered his parents hesitant looks, when he asked them about it, all they would tell, him was that he would learn when he was old enough.

He looked at all the others, who shared his confusion, he looked back up at the Princess, "not much, but I remember learning about it, in my classes…does this have something to do with our parents going missing?" he asked, raising his voice slightly.

Again, the Princess merely sighed, "more than you know…you see, the truth is, your parents fought in the war, if it weren't for them, we would have lost" she said, with a sad expression.

When he heard this, Night Gale's anger flared, "what! Do you really think we can believe this, your saying that our parents are war heroes, and we didn't even know about it, why weren't we told about this sooner?" he shouted, shocking the others that he would raise his voice at the Princess, but the princess did nothing, she had a guilty expression on her face.

"I understand your anger, but please listen, it was for your protection" she said, with a calm expression, now Night Gale was enraged, as well as the others, but it was Night Gale that did the talking.

"Yeah, such good it did now, our parents are missing, all because they didn't want to tell us the truth, and now look at what that's done!" he said, as his anger grew more, Celestia didn't know what to say, she knew that one day they would have to know, but she didn't know it would be this hard.

She sighed and looked up at them, "please, don't blame your parents, it was I who told them to keep the truth from you, they did it for your protection, if you must blame somepony, blame me" she said lowering her head in shame, but quickly raising it back up.

"I will do what I can to find them, you have my word" she said as she turned and began to walk away, "wait! I think we can help" Night Gale began to say, but was cut off, but the Princess turning around sharply, with a serious look on her face.

"No! You will be safer here, I shall handle, finding your parents" she said as she looked down at him, now Night Gale was enraged, "what! You take us from our homes, bring us all the way here, tell us the truth, that was kept from us all our lives, and you wont even let us help, find our parents!" he shouted the last part, again catching the others by surprise, that he would raise his voice to the Princess.

A surprised expression appeared on Celestia's face, deep down, she knew he was right, but didn't know how to answer his question, the room fell silent, as Night Gale breathed heavily, just then the door on the other side of the room opened, and in walked an elderly Pegasus, with a symbol on his cloak, one that they all didn't recognize.

He waked up to the princess, "with all due respect your highness, perhaps there is a way they can help, it is the least we can do, he has a point, we owe it to them" he said with a serious look on his face, Celestia looked from him to night gale, who had managed to calm down, thanks to Crystal walking up to him, and comforting him.

"What did you have in mind, Sky Breeze?" she said with a curious look on her face, "I shall train them to fight, like a Guardian, then they can aid in the search for their parents" he said as he walked over to them.

Celestia seemed lost in thought, finally she sighed and looked up at night gale, "very well then, train them to fight, in the mean time, you will be watched by royal guards and E.S.S agents 24/7, you will be staying here in the castle, the guards will escort you to your rooms" she said as she made her way out of the room.

Sky Breeze turned to the others, "get some rest, you are going to need it, we shall start your training tomorrow" he said as he too, made his way out of the throne room, Night Gale and he others, all exchanged different glances, but eventually followed the guards out of the room.

A/N: wow, that took longer than expected to write, hope you enjoyed, the next chapter will be out soon.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: here it is, the next chapter, now things will get interesting.**

**The New Generation: chapter 7: a new enemy**

Flame opened his eyes, only to find his vision blurred, he blinked multiple times, as he tried to focus, he saw that he was lying on his side, he grunted as he rolled on to his stomach, and pushed himself up.

Despite his vision, he tried to look around; he was in a place he didn't recognize, as he pushed himself on his hooves, suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his head, brining his hoof up a trying to stop the pain.

He couldn't remember how he got there, the last thing he remembered doing, talking to his friends on the train, and then suddenly a white flash, and now he was here.

He was brought from his thoughts, when he heard a familiar pony groan behind him, he quickly turned around and saw his wife, roll on to her stomach, and slowly push herself up.

"Twilight!" he called out as he ran over to her, the pony in mention, turned her head, trying to focus her vision, when he reached her he grabbed her hoof and helped her up, he refocused her vision, and looked at him.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a concerned tone, she looked at him, but didn't answer at first, "I don't know, my head hurts" she said as she rubbed her head, and looked around, "where are we?" she asked as they looked around, they found themselves in a very large cage, but that was not was interested them, it was their surroundings.

"I don't know, but for some reason, this place seems familiar, almost like I've here before" he said, as he looked around, they saw multiple computer screens, but with nothing on them.

Suddenly, they heard two more ponies groan from behind them; they quickly turned around, and saw none other than Shining Armor and Cadence pushing themselves upon to their hooves.

They rushed over to them, "are you two okay?" Flame asked as they got up to them, Shining Armor looked over at them, with a confused look on his face, "yeah, I guess so, but where are we?" he asked looking around.

It was then that they heard another familiar voice, "well, I guess that's makes all of us" said as familiar voice, they saw none other than Silver, sitting inside a different cage, along with Comet and Meadow Dawn, Twilight looked over to the side, and saw all her friends sitting in the same cage.

"Girls, are you all okay?" Twilight asked, the first to answer was Applejack, "yeah, ah think so" she said as she walked over to Dark Star, and sat next to him.

They all spent the next few minutes, talking about what happened, but none of them seemed to remember, but they would get their answer soon.

Suddenly, a door on the other side of the room, flew open, and in walked a hoofull of soldiers, all armed with crossbows, but that wasn't what interested them, it as the Pegasus who was with them, he slowly walked up to the cage, with a sinister smile on his face.

"ah, at last our guests are awake, I hope you have slept well" he said as he slowly walked by each cage, all of them remained silent, until Flame decided to speak up, "who are you, and what is this place?" he asked, with an angry look on his face, the Pegasus looked back at him, "straight to the point, I like that" he said as he stopped and turned to all of them.

"If you must know, my name is Storm Lash, the leader of this fine little organization here" he said with a smile, Comet recognized that name, and after he did, he remembered who it was, he was there during the battle of PonyVille.

"Wait, I remember you, you were there during the battle of PonyVille, you were Rage's captain" he said with a shocked look on his face, Storm Lash looked at him slowly, and walked in front of his cage, he watched as Silver, pushed his son and daughter-in-law, behind him, and got into a fighting stance, but Storm Lash just ignored it.

"correct, I was there, I watched as Rage was killed, and I knew that without our commander, we would lose, so I took a hoofull of our soldiers, and retreated into the forest, and when we heard of our loss, and the death of Shadow Blaze, we vowed that we would not let his vision die with him, and so we came across this place, and for the past seven years, we have been rebuilding our forces, waiting for the day, when we shall strike back" he said as he paced back in forth in front of the cage's.

"Where exactly is 'here', if I may ask?" Flame said, in a calm, yet serious tone, Storm Lash walked up to the cage he was in, prompting Flame to take a defensive position in front of Twilight, "you honestly don't know, well that's a surprise, after all, you spent most of your life here" he said with a sly grin on his face, at first Flame was confused, but then he remembered why this place looked so familiar, he had been here before, many years ago, the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

"no…no it can't be" Flame said in disbelief, he frantically looked around, this only amused Storm Lash, "yes that's right Flame, welcome home" he said with a smile, the others were still confused by what he meant, "what is it Flame, where are we?" Twilight asked looking over at her husband.

"It…this is a holding cell, at the guilds headquarters" he said still in disbelief, all the others gasped, but then Shining Armor spoke up, "that's impossible, after the guild surrendered, I ordered this place to be searched, and have all weapons taken back to Canterlot, we wiped this place clean" he said, with an angry tone, but Storm Lash just chuckled, "that's where you are wrong, when we found this place, all we saw was empty rooms, but then we came across secret rooms, filled with weapons and building plans, and so we took advantage of it, we built our own weapons from scratch, even our own air ships" he said with a smile.

They all remained silent for a while, until Flame spoke up again, "what is it you want with us, why bring us here?" he asked, catching Storm Lash's attention, "it's really quite simple, you all stopped Shadow Blaze, so you are the only major threat to our operation, and since you are my prisoners, you won't get in our way" he said, as he slowly made his way to the door.

"You won't get away with this, there are other's to stop you" Flame spoke up again, causing Storm Lash to stop, he chuckled to himself, and turned his head back to them, "oh really…" he said as he walked back up to them, "who might that be…" he said getting closer to the cage, "is it A the royal guard, B the E.S.S. , or C your foals" he said with a sinister grin, and when he did, Flames eyes widened, as well as all the others.

"Wrong, the answer is D none of the above!" he said as his voice grew louder, he said as he walked away, Flame's shock was replaced by anger, "where are they, what did you do to them!" Flame shouted getting up against the metal bars, Storm Lash only found it amusing.

"oh please, I haven't done anything to them, the last time I checked, they were being relocated to Canterlot, where I believe the Princess is going to tell them the secret you've kept from them their entire lives" he said as he continued to pace in front of the cage's.

They all remained silent again, until Storm Lash spoke up, "since I'm sure your wanting to know how we plan on gaining our victory, perhaps I should show you" he said as he walked over to Flame, "what if I told you, that there were secrets in the guild, one's that even you didn't know?" he said, as he got in closer, this surprised Flame, but he kept a straight face, "what would that be?" he asked, trying not to sound impressed, but unfortunately it wasn't working.

"when we arrived here, not only did we find weapons, but we found blueprints, for more advanced weapons, one's that would outdate simple everyday crossbows, while you may have been unaware, your master Skyfall, had been secretly working on new weapons that would have guaranteed their victory, unfortunately, after you killed him, and the guild surrendered, their plans were…put on hold, but when we found them, I ordered my scientist, to finish them, and we have done just that" he said as he brushed his cloak to the side, revealing a holster, and a small weapon on it.

They all watched with amazement, as he pulled it out and held it in his hoof, for all of them to observe, he smiled and chuckled at their interest, "this is called a pistol, far better than a standard crossbow, it's easier to carry, easier to conceal, faster reload speed, and ten times deadlier than a crossbow" he said with a broad sinister grin, they didn't say anything, they just looked at the strange object, "but perhaps you need a little demonstration" he said as he turned to one of the guards, and he nodded, and walked out of the room.

They waited for a few minutes, before he returned, with another guard, but that wasn't what interested them, it was the pony they were dragging behind them, when they came up to Storm Lash, they threw him to the ground, and he cried out in pain.

One of the guards, reached down and pulled him up by his mane, making him cry out in pain, and brought him to a sitting position, some of them instantly recognized him, Silver knew him as one of his lieutenants.

The lieutenant looked over at him, "I'm sorry general" he said, Silver noticed that he wasn't taken care of much, he had bruises all over his body, and cuts across his face and chest, Storm Lash smiled as he slowly walked over to him, "I think, our friend here will be happy to serve as a demonstration" he said as he walked up next to him, and sat down, and pulled out his pistol.

He lifted it up, to his head, only a few inches away from his head, "do you have any last words, lieutenant" he said as he put the muzzle of the gun up against his skull, the lieutenant, lightly turned his head to the side, the others looked on in horror, at the scene before them.

The lieutenant, looked over at the others, and then looked over at Storm Lash, "you may kill me, but I die knowing that I served my kingdom well, but you…you will die for nothing" he said slowly, Storm Lash only smiled, "we'll see about that" he said as he leaned in, and in a quick motion pulled the trigger.

A loud sharp sound filled the room, making all of them cover their ears, they watched as blood came out of the other side of the lieutenants head, and splattered across the floor, his eyes went blank, as he fell to the side, instantly dead, nothing but a gaping hole in the side of his head, still oozing blood.

Twilight gasped and cried into Flame's shoulder, the same went for Shining Armor and Cadence and even Comet and Meadow Dawn, Silver just looked on, with a shocked expression, a tearful look in his eyes, as he watched his friend's body fall to the floor.

Storm Lash, smiled as he got up, and wiped the small drops of blood from his face, he looked down at the body, with a serious look on his face, "get rid of that" he said as he holstered his pistol, and walked back over to the others, who all looked on in horror.

"Now then, any questions?" he said, they all remained silent, until Silver spoke up, "you sick bastard!, he was a good soldier, he had a wife and daughter" he said the last part slowly and sadly, Storm Lash only smiled, and turned to him, "everypony loses something, you of all ponies should know that, after all you lost your own wife to the war" he said getting closer, Silver's eyes widened at the mention of his beloved wife, even then, the painful memories still lingered in his mind, all those years later.

"Tell me this Silver, did she ever forgive you for not being there, for letting her die, for abandoning her, when she needed you most, how does it feels, to lose somepony so close to you" he said as he got right up next to Silver, staring intently into his eyes, and angry look appeared on Silvers face as he stared back, "what happened wasn't my fault, she was killed by Night Wing, and if she was here now, I'm sure she would forgive me" he said confident that he was right, but Storm Lash only smiled.

He slowly brought out his pistol, and reached inside the cage, and put the pistol up against Silver's head, yet Silver did nothing to avoid it, they just continued to stare at each other, "well then, would you like to join her, and find out" he said as they stared at each other.

The others watched with fearful glances, but especially Comet, who had a horrified look on his face, the air became thick, as they continued to stare each other in the eyes.

Just then, Storm Lash pulled the gun way and put it back in his holster, and walked away, back in front of Flame's cage, "if you want us out of the way, why not just kill us, you had the opportunity, so why keep us alive, you want something more, don't you?" he said, making Storm Lash chuckle to himself.

"oh dear, nothing escapes you, Flame…but you are right, there is something I want, you worked so hard to protect this kingdom, so I'm keeping you alive, so you can watch it burn to the ground, and the first step will be, with your foals" he said with a grin.

This time it wasn't much of a surprise, "what is it you want with them?" Flame said standing up, and staring at him, "well let's see, you all stopped a war from consuming the kingdom…I'm willing to see if your foals can do the same, but of course, that wouldn't be fair without a little test first, just to see what they are capable of, I have sent a small group of assassins, to the castle, let's see if they can survive" he said a she finally made his way out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

Twilight turned to Flame, a panicked look on her face, "we can't let him do that, we need to stop them, we have to warn them somehow" she said, Flame turned to her, and put a hoof on her cheek, "I know, but we can't do anything, all we can do is hope" he said as he pulled her into a hug, he looked over her shoulder at the others, they all had sad expressions on their faces.

But little did they know, that things would only get worse.

**A/N: oh boy, this is getting good, find out next time to see what happens.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: yes, the next chapter is up, for all of you too enjoy.**

**The New Generation: chapter 8: training day**

(Crystal and Night Gale's room)

It was early in the morning, and the sun was barely peaking over the horizon, and Night Gale and Crystal were fast asleep, but unfortunately it wouldn't last long, with everything going on, they had forgotten that they were supposed to train with Sky Breeze, at sunrise.

Suddenly they heard a loud knock on the door, making both of them open their eyes, they groaned as they sat up in bed, their eyes were half open, both of their manes were ragged, and in need of combing.

Night Gale looked over at the window, and out into the distance, he saw the sun was barely rising in the horizon, again they heard a knock on the door, Night Gale and Crystal looked at each other, they both groaned as they climbed out of bed, Crystal walked over to the mirror and began brushing her mane, while Night Gale walked over and opened the door.

When he did, he was shocked to see two E.S.S. guards standing there, both with a calm expression on their faces.

"Is something wrong?" Night Gale asked, but deep down he already knew the answer, the two guards looked at each other, "Sky Breeze, is waiting for the both of you, down in the training room, we have been sent to bring you there" the one on the left said, Crystal walked into the doorway, "if you will come with us" the one on the right said, as they slowly made their way down the hall.

Night Gale and Crystal exchanged worried glances, but slowly made their way down the hall, both of them had a feeling, it was going to be a long day.

(Canterlot castle, royal guard main training room)

After walking silently through the castle corridors, they finally came upon a room, with a larger door, one of the guards reached up and pushed the door open, and they slowly made their way in.

What they saw simply amazed Night Gale and Crystal, the room was filled with training equipment, everything from knives to crossbows, and any other weapon, the Equestrian military had to offer.

As they continues walking to the center of the room, they saw very familiar ponies, standing in a line, and then they saw the older Pegasus stallion, standing in front of them, a calm yet serious expression on his face, the guards walked up to him, and took a light bow, Sky Breeze looked over at them.

"thank you, that will be all for now" he said, and the guards made their way to the door, just as Sky Breeze turned to Night Gale and Crystal, "welcome, I hope you slept well, because you will tonight, take a spot there next to Solar Glaze" he said pointing to the young stallion, and they did just as he told.

Night Gale stood next to Solar Glaze, and Crystal stood next to him, Sky Breeze walked away for a minute, to talk with the training commander, just as he did, Solar Glaze leaned up and began talking to Night Gale.

"So, I bet you and your marefriend, were 'getting busy', when the guards arrived?" he said with a snicker, Night Gale's eyes widened, and he looked over at Crystal, who shared his reaction, he then looked down at Solar Glaze, with a frown, "hey, you're too young to even know what you're talking about" he said, Solar Glaze chuckled lightly too himself, and looked straight, just as Sky Breeze came back, and stood in front of them.

"Now then, today I will be teaching you the very basic offensive and defensive tactics, as well as countering, an attack, my assistant, Blazing Star will help me demonstrate, these moves" he said, as a much younger mare stepped up next to him, and removed her hood, Aurora instantly recognized her as her aunt, and couldn't help but smile.

"now watch and pay close attention, while Blazing Star and I show you, the basic moves" he said as both of them backed up, and moved apart from each other, they faced each other, and nodded.

Blazing Star got into a fighting position, while Sky Breeze did the same, a heavy silence filled the room, as the other ponies watched their teachers, Blazing Star and Sky Breeze just stared each other down, and both had serious expressions on their faces.

Suddenly, Blazing Star dodged forward, while Sky Breeze remained still, and right when she was a few feet away, Blazing Star jumped in the air, and tried to tackle Sky Breeze, but in one swift motion, Sky Breeze dodged to the side, surprising all of them except Blazing Star, who landed perfectly on the ground, and immediately spun around, and using the force of her swing, brought her hoof around, but being as skilled as he was, Sky Breeze simply brought his hoof up, and blocked her attack.

Blazing Star's hoof was only a few centimeters, from Sky Breeze's cheek; Blazing Star had an angry look on her face, while Sky Breeze had a calm look on his face, just then Blazing Star brought her hoof away, and spun around, and brought her back hoof around, and in a swift motion, Sky Breeze leaped in the air, narrowly missing, her attack, and while she was recovering, Sky Breeze brought his hoof down.

Blazing Star reacted by bringing her hoof up and blocking his attack, just as she did that, Sky Breeze delivered at kick to her chin, of course knowing it was only training, he only hit her hard enough to knock her back, so no real damage was done.

Blazing Star skid across the floor, she grunted as she stopped, she looked up and pushed herself back on her hooves, and immediately charged back at Sky Breeze.

The others, were watching the entire thing in complete awe, they never would have guessed, that Sky Breeze could move so fast for his age, but he was one of the best fighters around, and now they knew why.

After another few minutes of the demonstration, Sky Breeze and Blazing Star finally stopped, Sky Breeze leaned down and helped Blazing Star up, "excellent, your father taught you everything he knows, and it has paid off" he said as they waked back to the others, "now, it is time you learn these techniques" he said, the others, all exchanged nervous glances.

(Later that day…)

After going through difficult training, now it was time to show what they learned, each of them was paired off with a sparring partner.

Night Gale was paired off with his sister, Crystal was paired off with Melody, and Solar Glaze was paired off with Aurora, all of them were confident, but now it was time to show what they learned.

Night Gale and Star Dust stared each other down; both of them had smiles on their faces, just as they did the both of them charged straight at each other, they both jumped and collided in the air, but Star Dust managed to knock Night Gale to the ground, with her landing on top, she tried to throw a punch, but Night Gale rolled to the side, dodging her attack.

The entire time, the others faced their opponents, Night Gale got up behind Star Dust, she noticed this and spun around, using the force of the spin, she threw another punch, but Night Gale, barely managed to duck under it, Night Gale used his chance to tackle Star Dust to the ground, he landed on top, and just as he was trained, he pushed his hoof up on her neck, but didn't put any pressure on it, in fear of actually harming her.

Both of them were breathing heavily, they both smiled and started chuckling, just then they heard some pony clapping, Night Gale got up, and helped his sister up on her hooves, they both turned and saw Sky Breeze smiling at them as he walked up to them.

"I am impressed, you have the same fighting ability as you father, you are all very fast learners, you'll need that, with patience and proper training, I'm sure you will all be great fighters" he said, but was interrupted by another voice.

"I'm sure they will, Sky Breeze" the voice said, they all turned to the door, and saw both the Princess's walking up to them with smiles on their faces, all of them immediately bowed down, as she came up to them.

"Sorry, we didn't know you were there" Sky Breeze said as they all stood up straight, "there's nothing to apologize about, Luna and I, decided to come and check up on your training, and I say it's quite impressive" Celestia said with a smile, "indeed, you all have a great teacher" Luna said with a smile, looking at Sky Breeze, who only smiled back.

"Excuse me Princess, but is there anything on our parents yet?" Aurora asked, Celestia looked down at the youngest one, with a frown, "unfortunately no, but I can assure you I have my best ponies, working on it, when we find anything, you will be the first to know" she said with a confident smile, but the others, didn't share here attitude, they all remained silent until Sky Breeze spoke up.

"well then, I think that is enough for today, you all deserve a good rest, tomorrow we shall work on using offensive spells" he said as he made his way to the door, the other looked at each other, and slowly made their way out of the room.

**A/N: well, there you have it, don't worry the suspense will pick up in the next chapter, that I promise.**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: well, here it is, enjoy everybody; this is where things get interesting.**

**The New Generation: chapter 9: unwelcomed visitors**

It had been three days since Night Gale and the others began their training with Sky Breeze and Blazing Star, and it was the most exhausting three days of their lives.

Having a limited time to train them, Sky Breeze had to give them the most basic of fighting techniques, but even that took at least months to master, but he had to do it only three days, putting them through exhausting drills and demonstrations, all the muscles in their bodies became sore, but it the end it did the results did show.

Despite such little time to train them, Night Gale and the others, did very well, they all learned quickly, and became excellent fighters in such a short time, Sky Breeze and the Princesses were more than pleased, but tonight their new skills would be put to the test.

But for the time being, it was time for them to rest, due to their excellent progress, Sky Breeze and Blazing Star had given them a break for the rest of the day, and Night Gale planned on spending it with his marefriend.

Night Gale and Crystal walked into the room they shared, Night Gale groaned and threw himself on the bed, and pretended to fall asleep, Crystal could smile and laugh, "oh come on, it wasn't that bad, I'm a girl and I'm not that sore" she said as she sat on the side of the bed.

"How do you know, you didn't almost hit by an arrow…speaking of which, remind me to pay Solar Glaze back for that" as he lifted his head up, and got next to her, she smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "oh, you know he didn't mean it, it was an accident" she said as she got off and walked over to the bathroom.

"Yeah sure it was, he fired his arrow it reflected off the target and went straight at me, I'll get him back, just you wait" he said, she chuckled to herself, "okay sure, anyway, I'm going to take a shower, try not to do anything stupid" she said as she grabbed a towel with her magic, and walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"no promises" Night Gale as he just sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought, he still couldn't help but worry about his parents, despite what the Princess said, he knew they would have to find them soon, he wondered how the other were taking it, especially Aurora, being the youngest, she seemed the most affected by it, but Night Gale knew they would pull through and find them.

(Later that night, castle wall)

The sun had set on the horizon, and Princess Luna had raised the moon, only a few hours before, and now it was well into the night, and the guards were patrolling the perimeter of the castle, without their captain, leadership of the royal guard, fell to Commander Striker, and he made sure that the castle had extra protection.

Near the main gate, some guards were patrolling along the wall, making sure everything was secure.

One of the guards was watching the wall, when he was interrupted by the lieutenant, "anything, Private" he said, the guard immediately made a salute, and the Lieutenant answered it with his own, "nothing sir, everything's quiet" he said, the Lieutenant was about to leave when he noticed something in the Private's eyes.

"you seem tired Private, why don't you return to the barracks, and get some sleep" he said, as good as it sounded, the Private wanted to stay at his post, "I can assure you I'm fine sir" he said trying to sound confident, but it didn't fool anypony.

"Private, we can't afford any distractions, we need everypony to be vigilant, return to the barracks, that's an order" he said, the Lieutenant hesitated, but slowly made his way down the stairs, just as the other guard spoke up, "are you sure that's wise sir, we need everypony we can get, letting him go alone, may not be very smart" the other guard said, the Lieutenant sighed and turned to him.

"I know, but we haven't had anything happen the entire time, I doubt anything's going to happen tonight…speaking of which, what do the other guards report, anything unusual?" he said, with a curious look on his face.

"no nothing, all areas report the same as always, but if I may sir, something doesn't seem right, I have a bad feeling about this" he said, the Lieutenant was about to speak up, when they suddenly heard the sound of clanging metal, rolling down the stairs, they turned that way, and walked over to the stairs, they looked up long the wall, and saw no other pony in sight.

The Lieutenant, being a unicorn, used the tip of his horn as a flashlight, they slowly began to walk down the stairs, but didn't see anything unusual, until they got to the bottom of the stairs, there laying in front of them, was a royal guard service helmet, simply laying on the ground.

The Lieutenant walked up to it, while the other guard began looking around, the Lieutenant picked up the helmet, and looked over it, he recognized it as the Private's, just as he did, he heard the guard cry out in surprise, he turned around, and saw a masked pony grabbing him around the neck from behind.

He was about to say something, when he suddenly felt something around his neck, he tried to break free, but it was too strong, he fought his opponents grip, but failed, and soon he felt heavy strain on his neck, and shortly after, they heard the sound of bones breaking, and the Lieutenant fell to the ground, dead.

The pony behind him walked up to the other one, and just as he did, more came out from behind the bushes, and down the stairs.

"The infiltration is complete, find your targets and take them out, if you get captured, we can't help you" he said as they all snuck their way into the castle.

(Night Gale and Crystal's room)

It was well past midnight, and all the ponies including the princesses were fast asleep, due to the exhausting training, Night Gale and Crystal were fast asleep, Crystal was cuddled up against Night Gale, while he had his hoof around her shoulder, both of them had smiles on their faces.

Suddenly they heard a clanging noise outside the room, it wasn't terribly loud, but enough to wake them up, they both shot up in bed, "what was that?" Crystal asked, holding on to Night Gale, he just shushed her, they slowly heard the door to their room opening, Night Gale turned to her, "okay, I'm going to get us out of here, when I do, I want you to run, find the nearest guard, and tell them what's happened" he said.

They watched as shadows began to move across the curtains, they both heard whispering, but it was too quiet to make them out, they heard the sound of arrows being pulled back on multiple crossbows, they remained quiet, as they watched the shadows moving, Night Gale closed his eyes, and focused his magic, and in one swift motion, a bright flash filled the room.

They ponies behind the curtain, "kill them now!" he said, and they opened fired, and the arrows tore through the curtains, and hit the bed, and just as they did, the finally stopped firing, and looked inside, to their surprise they didn't see anypony in there.

The pony on the far right, felt something tap on his shoulder, he slowly turned his head to the side, and was met with a heavy punch to the chin, making him fly across the room, and slam into the wall, the others all turned in that direction, and saw a very angry Night Gale standing there.

He looked back, "Crystal go, I'll handle these guys" he said, Crystal nodded and ran out of the room, Night Gale turned and faced the other assassins, he saw them unsheathe their knives, when they entered the room, there were six ponies, now there was only five left.

A strong silence fell over the room, as they all stared each other down, suddenly the two assassins in the front charged at Night Gale, and when they were a few feet in front of him, they jumped into the air, but Night Gale remembered what to do in his training, he ducked down, and they flew right over him, and when they right above him, Night Gale leaned forward and with all the might he could muster, he bucked them in their stomach's, sending them flying straight through the wall, and into the hallway, knocking them out instantly.

Night Gale smiled and turned back to the others, only to be met with a punch to the face, knocking him back, he skidded to a halt, and wiped the sweat from his face, he looked back up, and saw the other's charging at him, he saw one of them throwing another punch, Night Gale dodged to the side, and threw a punch himself, landing it on the attackers chin, staggering him.

Just as he did, he heard the sound of an arrow being pulled back on a crossbow; he turned around and saw a pony pointing a crossbow at him, just as he did, he also heard the sound of a pony coming up from behind him, just as the pony behind him jumped into the air, trying to tackle him, the pony in front fired off the arrow.

Night Gale noticed this, and dodged to the side, and the arrow hit the pony that was behind him in the shoulder, he fell to the floor shouting in pain.

Night Gale charged at him, and tackled him to the floor, and landed on top of him, he got up and began punching him in the face, until he was unconscious.

When he was done, he got up, and looked around for the third one, but he was nowhere in sight, just then he heard a familiar pony cry out for help, "Night Gale help me!" he heard Crystal call out from down the hall, "damn it" he said as he ran out of the room, as he did he notice the two ponies who landed outside the room, were no longer there.

He heard Crystal cry out again, and ran in that direction, until he found the source; he saw Crystal and some of the assassins standing at the end of the hall, "hey, let her go!" he yelled, the others looked over at him, one of them turned to the other two, "take care of him" he said as he began dragging Crystal away, while the other two got in a fighting stance.

Night Gale stared them down, and in a fit of rage, he charged forward, and when he was close enough, he jumped into the air, screaming wildly, but the assassins simply stepped to the side, and Night Gale crashed to the floor, and turned around, only to be met with a punch to the face, knocking him to the ground, he tried to get up but failed, until he was grabbed around the neck from behind.

He felt that he couldn't breathe and that the attacker was pulling his neck to the side, "time to die" he heard him whisper, but Night Gale wasn't giving up yet, he struggled but finally broke free of his grasp, and bucked him in the chest, knocking him out, and Night Gale got up and turned to face the second on.

He shouted as he charged forward and threw a punch, the pony narrowly dodged to the side, and so Night Gale brought his other hoof around, but again missed, he became angrier as he tried the same move again, and like the last time, the he evaded the attack, but instead of doing nothing, he brought his own hoof around, and hit Night Gale in the shoulder, hard enough to break it.

Night Gale cried out in pain, as he fell to the floor, the assassin just watched as he tried to push himself up, but Night Gale found it hard to balance his weight on the injured hoof, Night Gale turned around, and tried to swing again, but missed and in return the assassin did the same and hit Night Gale's other shoulder, making him fall down again.

Night Gale found it harder to balance his weight, and could only look up, he watched as the assassin unsheathed a knife, and raised it above him, Night Gale slowly felt his strength return to his hooves, and just as the assassin brought the knife down, Night Gale reached up, and grabbed the assassin's hoof, and stood up, surprised the assassin brought his hoof around but Night Gale caught it in his other hoof, and in one swift motion, he slammed his head into the attacker's, the force of the blow, instantly knocked him out.

The assassin fell to the floor, unconscious, Night Gale stood there breathing heavily, until he heard another scream, "Crystal!" he shouted, as he focused his magic to his horn, but found it hard to do so, he felt increasingly weak, as he tried to use his magic, and again fell to the floor, "what in the world?" he said but stopped when he heard yet another scream, deciding not to use that again, he took off running as fast as his hooves could carry him.

He followed the screams down multiple hallways, until they eventually led him out to the courtyard, he looked around, and suddenly saw the same pony dragging Crystal, he felt his anger boil over, and he sprinted after them, when he finally reached them, he jumped and tackled the assassin to the ground, and he landed on top, and began punching the pony, and just as he was about to, the pony dodged his next attack and punched him in the face, making Night Gale lose his focus, he then rolled them over so he was on top, he then unsheathed his knife.

By this time, Crystal had used her magic to untie herself, all she could do was watch in horror, the assassin put the knife to Night Gale's neck, "you're a fool, just like your father!" he shouted as he raised his hoof up, knife at the ready, Night Gale tried to break free but he felt increasingly weak, from his previous fights, so he was helpless to fight back, his vision began to blur.

All he could do was look up, he knew he couldn't win, all he did was close his eyes, but suddenly they heard a loud siren fill the air, and a bright light shined down on them, Night Gale opened his eyes, and looked up, he saw one of the air ships shining a light down on them, he looked up, and saw the assassin looking around frantically, he then saw multiple royal guard officers approach, crossbows at the ready.

The assassin was tackled to the ground, by one of the guards, Night Gale looked to the side, and saw Crystal run up to him, he saw her mouth moving, but didn't hear anything, and finally the last of his energy was gone, all he could do was close his eyes, and let the darkness take him.

**A/N: wow, I told you things would get interesting, more is to come, that I can promise.**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: yes, I'm back with another chapter.**

**The New Generation: chapter 10: the interrogation**

The last thing Night Gale remembered seeing, was Crystal standing over him, trying to say something, but the exhaustion he felt, forced him to close his eyes, and he lost consciousness.

During that time, he must have woken up, because he could remember bright lights flashing over him, and multiple voices talking, but he couldn't understand any of them, and so he slowly fell back asleep.

(Later…)

The next thing he knew he was lying in a comfortable bed, he tried to open his eyes, but was blinded again, by a very bright light, shining from above, slowly he felt his eyes adjust, he began looking around the room, he looked to his side and saw that he was hooked up to a machine, he looked forward, and saw that he was inside a hospital room, but it wasn't the hospital inside the city, it looked different.

Just as he finished looking around, the door on the far side of the room, opened an in walked a pony dressed in a doctors uniform, when he got up to the bed, he noticed that Night Gale was awake, "well, look who finally decided to rejoin the living, you gave us all quite a scare there" he said with a smile, as he walked up, and levitated a small clipboard in front of him, but Night Gale was still confused.

"Uh, how long was I out?" he asked, still looking around, the doctor looked up at him, and again smiled, "oh no need to worry, you've only been out for a few hours at the least" he said walked up and checking the machines, "okay, how long until I can leave?" he asked, the doctor again turned to him, but with a more serious face, which made Night Gale more and more nervous.

But then he smiled again, "let's see, as soon as you regain your strength, you can leave, but I recommend you at least stay until later today, so we can finish our tests" he said, and when he did, it surprised Night Gale, "tests? What tests, you said I was just unconscious" he said with a hint of worry, but the doctor gave him a reassuring smile, but then quickly turned into a frown.

"well, when we brought you here, we ran some tests, and found your ability to use magic was temporarily disabled, but rest assured it went away, sometime around dawn, and you are back to your old self" he said as he began walking away.

"Wait, what about my sister, is she okay?" Night Gale asked in a worried tone of voice, the doctor stopped and turned around, and faced him, with a broad smile on his face, "why don't you ask her yourself" he said as he pointed to the other side of the room, Night Gale followed to where he was pointing, and was surprised to see none other than, his own sister sleeping in the chair.

"How-how long was she here?" Night Gale asked, turning back to the doctor, he smiled, "the entire time, we asked to leave but she refused, she wanted to stay until you woke up…you're a really lucky guy, to have such a caring sibling, your marefriend was here as well, but she left a few hours ago to get some sleep for herself" he said as he looked down at his watch, "whoa, look at the time, you'll have to excuse me, I need to tend to the other patients, you take it easy now" he said as he left the room, and closed the door behind him, and just as he did, Night Gale heard a pony groaning, he looked over at Star Dust, and saw her shifting in the chair, she slowly got up, and stretched her hooves in the air, and turned to the bed, Night Gale saw her eyes light up, when she saw him.

"Night Gale, you're awake!" she cried out happily, as she ran over to him, and threw her hooves around his neck roughly, hitting one of his sore spots, he cried out in pain, making Star Dust reel back, with a worries look on her face, "no, I'm fine, still a little sore though" he said, and her worried expression was replaced with a happy one.

"Oh Night Gale, I actually thought that you-" she was cut off by Night Gale, "who me? No, it's going to take a lot more than that, to keep me out of the game" he said, making her smile, and hug him again, only this time it was more gentle.

When they let go, Night Gale had a worried expression on his face, "what about the others, and Crystal, is she-" he was cut off by Star Dust, who only smiled, "their all fine, I guess we were all attacked last night, when we found out, about what happened to you, we all rushed here, the doctor said you would be okay, but just the thought of losing you-" she tried to say but was cut off as tears began to form in her eyes, Night Gale lifted her head up with his hoof, and smiled at her.

"listen star, I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here for you…besides I'm the only one to look after you, who else is going to keep you out of trouble" he said with a chuckle, one that Star Dust joined in on, just as they were done, the door opened and in walked all of their friends, all with excited looks on their faces, especially Crystal.

One by one they all ran over to him, and gave him a hug, except for Crystal who ran over and gave him a kiss on the lips, one that Night Gale greatly accepted and returned.

When they were all done asking him questions, they stopped as they saw the Princess's walking in, both with happy looks on their faces, Princess Celestia was the first to speak up.

"well, I think I speak for all of us here, when I say that I happy to see that you are okay" she said, and all the others nodded in agreement, but Night Gale had something else in mind, he looked up at the Princess with a frown, "excuse me Princess, but what I want to know is who tried to kill us, and why they did it, and maybe if they are connected with the ones who took our parents?" he said looking up at her, the room fell silent, as all eyes fell on the Princess's.

Celestia sighed, and looked at all of them, "as of right now we are not sure, after you fell unconscious, we apprehended the assassin, and took him to the castle dungeon, and earlier this morning we moved him to the interrogation room in the royal guard headquarters, Commander Striker had been in there interrogating him, but he won't talk, we were on our way there, when we heard that you were awake, when you are feeling up to it, we can take you there, but for now rest…come along, let's leave Night Gale to rest" the Princess said as they all exited the room, Crystal gave Night Gale one last kiss on the cheek before they left the room.

As soon as they cleared out of the room, Night Gale fell back on the bed with a sigh, he knew he wouldn't be able to go for at least a few hours, so he decided to take advantage of that, and turned to his side, and slowly closed his eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep.

(Later that day…)

Later into the day, the doctor came by and informed Night Gale that he was free to go when he pleased, and of course Night Gale wasted no time in getting back on his hooves, he was told by the doctor to take it easy with his physical exercise and magic use, but right now all night gale wanted to do, was go to the interrogation room, and meet this assassin face to face.

After he left he was escorted to the interrogation room, by two members of the royal guard, and when he walked into the room, he saw that all his friends were there, including the Princess's and even Sky Breeze and Blazing Star.

When he walked up, Princess Celestia turned around and walked up to him, "ah Night Gale glad to see you are out of the hospital, come" she said gesturing to the large window, Night Gale walked up to it, and saw Striker sitting at a table, with another pony sitting on the other side, his hooves were cuffed, and he was staring at the surface of the table, like he was a hypnotized, he seemed to ignore all of Strikers questions.

"Is this the one we caught?" he asked looking over at the Princess's, "indeed, we haven't been able to get any information out of him" Princess Luna spoke up, they watched as Striker got up from his chair, and made his way to the door, he opened it and stepped out, leaving the assassin alone in the room, Striker came around the corner, with an angry yet sad expression on his face, "he's still not talking, were going to have to try something else, he said as he began walking away, but that was when Night Gale got his idea.

"Wait" he said walking up to the Princess, "with all due respect Princess, let me go in there and try, I might be able to get him to talk" he said, a big frown and began to speak up, "you already know, what my answer would be to an offer like that, if he won't talk now, what is to say he will talk to you, I can't let that happen" she said as she began to walk away.

"Please your highness, just give me a chance, and if I fail, then I won't ask again, we don't want things to get violent" he said, the room fell silent, the Princess sighed, and turned to Striker, they both nodded, and Striker walked up to him, and took something out of his pocket, and handed it to him.

"here, it's a miniature headset, we'll keep in touch with you, do what you can, if nothing happens you get out of there" he said in a serious tone, Night Gale took it and placed it in his ear, "yes sir" he said as he made his way to the door, but stopped to look at Star Dust and Crystal, "I'll be fine, don't worry" he said as he walked past them, and around the corner, he took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

As he entered the room, he heard the door close and lock behind him, now it was only him and the assassin, as he walked over to the table, he looked over at the window, although he couldn't see through it, he knew that the others were watching.

When he reached the table, Night Gale pulled out the chair and got up in it, the assassin just remained watching the table, and refused to look up at him.

They sat there for a few minutes, before Night Gale decided to break the silence, "so, why don't we start with a little introduction, my name is Night Gale, and you are?" he said with a calm voice, but the assassin remained the same, refusing to answer the question or look up at him, so Night Gale decided to move on.

"As I'm sure you remember, you and your friends tried to kill me and my friends, what I want to know is why, and who sent you to do it?" Night Gale asked still very calm, the others just watched through the window, but then something happened, something that shocked them.

The assassin raised his head, and looked straight up at Night Gale, surprising him, they just stared at each other in the eyes, for a few minutes, before Night Gale proceeded to the next question, "you must know who ordered you to do it, all you have to do is tell me, and I will leave" he said leaning closer on the table, the air in the room became thick, as all the assassin did was stare back at him, the entire time.

The others, all frowned and sighed, Striker reached up to his head set, and began talking to Night Gale.

Back in the room, Night Gale heard his head set beep, he brought his hoof up to it, _"get out of there Night Gale, he isn't going to talk, we need to move to plan B" _he heard striker say on the other end, he sighed and turned back to the assassin, "maybe some more time in here will make you talk" he said as he got up and made his way to the door.

As he reached up for the knob, he heard something that shocked him, and everyone else listening, "you will never find them, your parents, you will never see them again" he heard the assassin say, Night Gale slowly turned around and saw the assassin smiling at him, he slowly began walking back over to him again, and stood next to the table.

"Where are they?" he said leaning in closer to him, the assassin just smiled, "even if I did tell you, you wouldn't be able to get to them in time, they will die, and it will be all your fault" the assassin said slowly, now Night Gale was getting mad, he slammed his hoof on the table, but the assassin didn't even flinch.

"Tell me!" he shouted, they just stared each other in the eye, the assassin tuned his attention to the window, the others on the outside saw him looking along the window, as if he knew exactly where they were, and then he turned his attention back to Night Gale.

"I'll whisper it to you" he said slowly, Night Gale didn't understand what he meant, but then he knew what he was talking about, he leaned in closer to him, putting his ear a few inches from the assassins mouth, the assassin leaned forward, and began whispering into his ear, after a few minutes of doing so, Night Gale eyes widened, and he stepped back from him, the assassin was just looking at him, with a sinister smile on his face, Night Gale slowly made his way to the door, as the assassin started laughing.

Night Gale left the room, and walked back to the others, a shocked look on his face, he was breathing heavily, Striker stepped forward, "what did he say to you?" he asked, with a serious tone, Night Gale just looked up at him, with a shocked expression, but he eventually calmed down, "all I can say is that, this is far more serious than we thought" he said with a serious tone.

The others just exchanged worried glances, Night Gale sighed and made his way out of the room, quickly followed by the others.

**A/N: well, that was certainly interesting, see you next time to find out what will happen next.**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'm back with the next chapter, and as always the plot thickens.**

**The New Generation: chapter 11: the search begins**

It had been two days since Flame and the others had been visited by their captors, but today was different.

Flame was leaning up against the side of the cage, with a bored expression on his face; Twilight was in the middle of the cage, trying to fall asleep, but the cold floor of the cage made that nearly impossible, not to mention the idea of what could be happening to their foals, finally deciding to give up on sleep, Twilight pushed herself up, and slowly walked over to her husband.

"I take it you couldn't sleep either" he said as she walked up next to him, and sat down, Twilight had a sorrowful expression on her face, and didn't answer Flame's question, Flame looked at her with a worried expression, "everything okay, Twi?" he asked turning to her, she sighed sadly and looked up at him, "this is all out fault, if we had told them the truth, maybe all of this could have been avoided" she said looking away, Flame sighed and pulled her into a hug.

"none of us could have known this was going to happen, everything's going to be okay, I promise you" he said as he brought her face up to his, he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, just as he did, the door on the other side of the room opened up, and in walked Storm Lash with a pleased look on his face.

They all got up, as he walked over to the cages, "what is it you want now?" Flame said with an angry look, Storm Lash chuckled and started talking, "oh me, nothing really, but I do have some news that you might find most pleasing, it appears that your foals managed to defeat my assassins" he said with a smile.

That comment caught all their attention, as they all got up, Storm Lash continued his story, "but before you get all excited, there more to it than that" he said as the door opened again, and in walked some more ponies, dressed in black cloaks, they walked up to him, as he turned to face them.

"I take it everything went according to plan?" he said, and the leader of the assassins smiled, "yes, we did what we were told, one of ours stayed behind, just like we planned, and if I'm correct he has already told them of our location, and I'm sure they will be here in a few days' time" he said, Storm Lash smiled and slowly turned back to his prisoners, they all had shocked and worried expressions on their faces.

"Well there you have it, they know of our location, and I'm sure they will bring some company, but don't worry, I will have the perfect welcome present waiting for them,…it's a shame you won't be able to see them again, such a pity" he said as they slowly began to make his way out of the room, laughing, and soon the door slammed shut behind him, leaving them alone once again.

They all remained silent, until Comet spoke up, "I just hope Aurora is okay, she is the youngest, she is still a filly" Comet said worriedly, this particular comment seemed to anger Shining Armor, "hey!, we all have foals too you know, so just stop your complaining!" Shining Armor yelled from his cage, but this only made Comet angry, he got up and walked to the end of his cage, with an angry look on his face.

"Ooh, is the big tough captain of the guard, scared, besides you should have found these guys quicker, and maybe we could have avoided this entire situation" Comet said in a teasing voice, "what!, your blaming me, what about you and your dad, you're the ones supposed to help, but you didn't do anything!" Shining Armor answered and after that everypony seemed to be fighting, and yelling at each other, even Twilight friends began to argue, all except for Twilight Flame, and Silver.

Being forced to listen to their foolish arguing, Flame had finally had enough, "alright everypony just shut up!" Flame shouted over all of them, they all became quiet and turned to Flame, with shocked expressions on their faces, that Flame would raise his voice like that, even Twilight was surprised.

Flame walked over to the edge of his cage, next to Shining Armor, with an angry look on his face, "you the ones acting like foals, this isn't going to help our children, they are out there risking their lives to try and save us, the least we can do is be patient, fighting amongst ourselves is not going to help them!" Flame said as he slowly clamed done his voice now raised to and angry tone.

The others began looking away, they felt bad about the way they acted, just then Silver spoke up, "I agree with Flame, we need to stick together, falling apart now, will only guarantee Storm Lash's victory, if we want to stop him, we need to be patient" he said shooting a glare at his son, who lowered his head shamefully, Meadow walked up to him and nuzzled up against his chin, whilst Cadence did the same for Shining Armor.

Shining Armor looked over at Comet, with a guilty look, "I'm sorry Comet, I was just so mad, and talking about what might happen, just –just set me off" he said in an apologetic tone, Comet looked over at him, "no I should apologize, I know we are all under a lot of stress, it's my fault for bringing it up" he said, a small smile crept on Silver's face knowing his son did the right thing.

Now it was Dark Star's turn to speak up, "so, what do we do now?" he asked, Flame had now fully relaxed, "like Silver said, all we can do is be patient, we must have faith in our foals, it's the only way to pull through this" he said as Twilight walked up next to him, and nuzzled under his chin, all of them had worried expressions on their faces, they had a feeling it wouldn't be over anytime soon.

(Canterlot castle, throne room)

After Night Gale had met with the assassin, he was shocked to find out what the assassin told him, he asked the Princess to call a small meeting, of just them, inside the throne room, and after they had all gathered, Night Gale unrolled a map, and placed it on a table that was set in the middle of them room.

After he did, he placed his hoof, on a certain spot on the map, "this is where he said, that our parents were being held, somewhere in this area" he said, Striker looked at the spot he was pointing too, and was shocked.

"That's not possible; this is the area of the Assassin's Guild old headquarters, Captain Shining Armor informed that the place was abandoned, it's been empty for years" he said looking up at Night Gale, with a surprised expression.

Night Gale just stared back with a calm face, "look, that's where he said it was, that's what he told me" he said turning away, Striker spoke up again, "did you ever take into account that maybe he was lying to you, to throw us off course" he said with a serious face, Night Gale turned around and looked right back at him, "no, it was the way he said it to me, like he wanted us to know where it was, I have a feeling he was telling the truth" he said, Striker sighed, and turned to the Princess's.

"With all due respect Princess, you can't really expect us to go in there, based off of a feeling, it might be a false trail, it would be a waste of time, and that is a luxury we don't have, I'm afraid" he said looking up at Princess Celestia, she was standing at the end of the table the entire time, watching and listening.

She stayed silent for a few seconds and then turned to the Commander, "Commander while I trust your judgment, I am sure Night Gale is telling the truth, it would be the perfect place for them to hide, in the place we least except them too" she said smiling down at Night Gale, who smiled back, but that quickly disappeared, as he remembered the second part the assassin told him.

"there's something else too…while he was talking to me, the assassin told me that the leagues soldiers have discovered weapons far more powerful, and deadlier, than that of the Royal Guard and the E.S.S. combined, we might need to rethink our approach, we might end up walking right into a trap" he said with a frown, just as he did, the door opened up, and in walked two other ponies, that Solar Glaze instantly recognized.

"Who are you?" Striker asked, the one on the left looked up with a smile, "the name's Night Shadow, you think you can squeeze in two more, for your little plan" he said, they all fell silent, until ran up to them, "uncle Night Shadow you're here!" he said as he ran up to him, and hugged his uncle, Night Shadow only laughed, and he hugged his nephew back, "hey Solar Glaze, it's been awhile" he said, the pony on the right smiled and removed his hood, revealing none other than Beltway.

Striker stood up with a suspicious look on his face, "what makes you think you can help us?" he said, Night Shadow frowned and looked up at him, "Dark Star is like a brother to me, I haven't seen him in quite some time, but anyway, I can provide assistance, it's the least I can do" he said in a calm tone, Striker turned back to the Princess, who was smiling.

She looked down at him, and nodded her head, he sighed and turned back to him, "very well, we were just about to rethink our plan, what do you think?" he asked, Night Shadow and Beltway smiled, and walked over to the map, followed by Solar Glaze.

"So what are we going to do, we still need a way to get there…anypony have any ideas?" He said looking around the table, at first no one answered, until Night Gale spoke up, "I think I might have one, but it will definitely be tricky" he said with a calm look on his face, the other all exchanged curious looks, but none more so than Striker, who had a surprised look on his face.

**A/N: well there you have it, tune in next time to see what will happen next.**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: yeah, I'm back with yet another chapter, hope you all enjoy.**

**The New Generation: chapter 12: the rescue mission**

(Canterlot air field, runway)

It was well into the morning, and the sun, was already high in the sky, as the massive airship stood on the runway.

Night Gale was making his way up the ramp, when he was stopped by Striker, "what is it Striker, you can't make me change my mind" he said, but Striker wasn't going to say anything like that, he just had a sympathetic look on his face, "I won't, I'm just here to tell you to be careful, hopefully this plan of yours will work" he said, looking at him, with a now serious look, Night Gale turned to him, and matched his expression.

"Don't worry it will, just make sure you aren't far behind" he said, as he extended his hoof out, Striker smiled and took it, they both smiled, "don't worry we will be, you just make sure you save some of the action for us" he said, Night Gale slowly turned around, and made his way up the ramp, and joined the rest of his family, he turned and watched as the ramp raised up, until it was fully closed.

Striker and the soldiers behind him all stepped back, as the massive engines roared to life, making a gust of wind hit them, forcing them to cover their eyes, they all watched as the air ship slowly took off, and ascended into the air, they watched until it disappeared into the clouds, just as they did, Striker turned to one of the soldiers behind him, "are the other air ships ready to go?" he asked, the soldier nodded, "yes sir, the final loading is complete, we're just waiting for your orders" he said, Striker nodded.

"alright, let's go, give the order to prepare for launch" he said as they all turned and made their way over to the other two air ships, waiting for take-off.

(Former assassin's guild headquarters)

Having been informed of the current situation, Flame and the others, were again forced to wait, until they heard more news, but today would be completely different.

They all sat in their cages in silence, only being able to think of the worst, even now their hope was dwindling, they all sat quietly, and none of them had been able to get any sleep.

Just as they did, once again the door on the other side of the room swung open and in walked none other than Storm Lash, with a smile on his face, he walked up to the cages, "wonderful news my friends" he said, Flame was the first to answer, "we're not your friends" he said, with a calm expression.

"oh come now Flame, show a little more emotion, in case you didn't hear me, I have good news for you" he said, as he paced back and forth in front of the cages, they all waited patiently for him to continue, "it appears that my suspicions are correct, my scouts at the end of the valley have reported an incoming royal guard air ship, this is no doubt, a rescue mission for all of you" he said, this comment gave them all a slight glimmer of hope, but it faded when Storm Lash started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Shining Armor asked, this caught Storm Lash's attention, "hmm, oh yes, it appears that on board this ship, is none other than your very own foals, coming to rescue their beloved parents, isn't it sweet" he said in a mocking tone, making all the guards laugh, until he raised his hoof up, making them all shut their mouths.

"However, fear not my friends, I will have a wonderful welcoming gift for them" he said, as he turned to one of the guards, and nodded his head, the guard walked over to the computer console on the other side of the room, and switched it on, it revealed a camera looking over the valley where the entrance to the base is.

They all watched quietly, but at first nothing happened and just then, they saw looked like a royal guard air ship coming through the valley, this gave them another glimmer of hope, that until Storm Lash spoke up.

"All soldiers arm the anti-air cannons, and wait for my signal" he said with a sinister grin, it was then that they realized what he was going to do, their facial expressions were a mix of shocked, scared, and horrified.

All they could do was watch, as the ship came into a better view, they saw Storm Lash turn to them, with a sick smile on his face, one of the guards turned to him, with a calm expression on his face, "all anti-air cannons armed, and waiting for your orders sir" he said and he turned his head back to them, and nodded, and then he turned back to flame and the others.

All their eyes opened wide, as they watched the camera, Storm Lash's smile grew wider, as he walked closer to the cages, "fire…at…will" he said slowly, but loud enough for the guards to hear him, they turned around and began speaking into the headsets, they watched the screen and In a few seconds, the air was filled with smoke and loud explosions, which only came out as muffled audio, but they could all still hear it, their eyes widened, Twilight was the first to react.

"NO! NOOOO!" she cried out an ran to the side of the cage, same as the others, Flame could feel tears come from his eyes, as he ran up and pulled Twilight away from the bars, she tried to break free, but Flame had a strong grip on her, all she could do was cry into his shoulder.

They all watched as the air ship was overwhelmed with cannon fire, and soon it was destroyed, they all watched as it fell to the valley floor, and crashed.

After a few minutes, one of the guards turned around and walked up to Storm Lash, "its confirmed sir, the target was destroyed; scans show no signs of any survivors, if there was anypony in there, they would be dead" he said, Storm Lash smiled as he walked back over to the cages, more specifically Flame and Twilight's.

He saw the tearful looks in their eyes, this only made his chuckle, "oh come on, don't act like you didn't see this coming, you knew that one day this would happen, that your foals would pay for your mistakes, it was only a matter of time, but now, things will only get better, I promise you that" he said as he looked at them.

Flame looked up at him, with the faintest hint of tears in his eyes; he looked up at Storm Lash, with an angry look in his eyes, "before this is all over, I will kill you, I promise you that" as he held his crying wife, Storm Lash frowned, as he got up and slowly made his way to the door, and just like always it slammed shut behind him, leaving all of them to their sorrow.

(Later that day…)

It had only been a few hours since they saw their foals die before them, and they were helpless to stop it, in the time after none of them had spoken to each other, Flame was leaning up against the bars of the cage once again, staring blankly at the floor, he occasionally looked up at Twilight, who was curled up in the corner of the cage, silently crying to herself, same as all the others, all of them mourning the loss of their foals.

By this time, it was well into the afternoon, although they couldn't tell, it had also been quite some time since Storm Lash had returned to taunt, many of them believed it was because of Flame's comment, but they were all two sad and depressed to care.

They all waited in complete silence for something to happen, and just as they wished, something did happen.

They heard the door on the other side of the room swing open, but instead of Storm Lash walking in, they saw multiple ponies wearing masks, walking into the room and up to the cages, Flame was the first to speak up, "what is it you want now, why can't you just leave us alone" Flame said, as the pony walked up to the cage, instead of speaking, he just raised his hoof up and revealing a knife in it, and brought it down hard on the lock, completely shattering it.

They all watched with shocked expressions on their faces, as the one in the mask, opened up the cage and gestured for them to come out, Flame looked over at Twilight who was standing up, and then over at Shining Armor and Cadence who both had suspicious looks in their eyes, but they slowly walked out, Flame looked to the side, and saw some of the others, breaking the locks on the others cages, and opening them.

Flame looked over at Shining Armor, Silver, Comet, and Dark Star, and nodded his head; they all nodded as well, and in one quick motion, Flame grabbed the pony that let them out by the throat and spun him around, and pushed him up against the side of the cage, and enraged look on his face, he looked to his side, and watched as the other sis the same catching all of them by surprise.

"Who are you and what do you want?!" Flame yelled as he pinned the masked pony up against the cage, lifting him in the air, he didn't pushed down very hard, so he could hear what he had to say.

"We're here to help you…dad" he said, it took a few seconds for Flame to realize what he said, his eyes widened and he looked back up at the mask pony, with a shocked expression, the pony reached up and slowly removed the mask, revealing a face that Flame thought he would never see again, but he was to shocked to say anything.

"N-Night Gale?" he said in a half shocked, half happy tone, Night Gale only smiled despite being pressed up against the cage, "yeah dad it's me, and I would really appreciate it, if you would let me down" he said, Flame realized he still had him pinned up against the side of the cage, and backed away, Night Gale dropped to the floor, pushed himself off, and dusted himself off.

The entire time Twilight was too shocked to even move, all she did was stare, until she heard a familiar young female voice, "mom?" she heard the voice say, she turned around and saw none other than Star Dust standing behind her with a happy look on her face, this only made her more shocked.

Star Dust ran forward and nearly tackled her mom to the floor, and wrapped her in a big hug, Twilight was still half shocked, but she felt tears return to her eyes, as she hugged her daughter back, Night Gale watched with a smile, until he too was hugged by Flame, who also had tears in his eyes.

Shining Armor was shocked to see Night Gale and Star Dust, he looked down at the pony he tackled to the floor, and was more than surprised to be staring into the face of his young daughter, "Melody, is that you?" he asked as he pulled her up, and wrapped her into a hug, Cadence cried out happily as she joined her husband, wrapping her hooves around her daughter's neck.

"Mom, dad?" Comet and Meadow Dawn heard a young familiar voice, they turned around to see none other than, their young daughter Aurora, standing behind them, "Aurora!" Meadow Dawn cried out as they both ran to their daughter, she did the same and when they met they all hugged each other, Comet was more than overjoyed to see his beloved daughter, Meadow was on the verge of tears, as well as her daughter, Silver as well was overjoyed to see his granddaughter again, and joined in on the hug.

Applejack and Dark Star watched with smiles on their faces, until they were tackled on to their sides, they looked up and saw the smiling face of their son, the slightest hint of tears in his eyes, they all hugged each other, all of them on the verge of tears, Twilight's friends watched with happy looks on their faces at the family reunion.

After a few minutes of that, Flame had a few questions to ask his son, "what happened to all of you, we saw your air ship, we all thought you were dead" he said with a saddened look, Night Gale only smiled, "come on dad, we saw that trap coming miles away, we were long gone, before they even locked on to us, that ship was nothing more than a decoy, but…we are sorry we couldn't find a way to tell you, we laid low for a few hours, and then made our way here" he said, Flame smiled and wrapped a hoof around his son's shoulder, "that's my boy" he said with a smile, Night Gale only smiled back.

"plus we had some help, from some old friends of yours" he said gesturing to the two ponies who were still wearing their masks, they slowly reached up and took them off, revealing none other than Night Shadow and Beltway, all of them were shocked but happy as well, especially Dark Star.

"I should have known, only you two could think a such a daring rescue" Dark Star said as he walked up to them, they all smiled as Dark Star hugged his old friends, "it's so good to see you two again, how are things with the wolf pack?" he asked, Night Shadow was the first to answer, "you know we will always have your back, as for the wolf pack, we'll have to tell you later, we need to go" he said looking over at Night Gale, who now had a serious look on his face, Night Gale looked over at his dad, "he's right, the first air ship was a decoy, until we got you, Striker has two more air ships on the way here, we need to get out of here" he said as he looked up at Flame, who only smiled, just as he did they heard a bone chilling laugh come from behind.

"oh, it's far too late for that" they heard the voice say, they all turned to the direction of the door, standing in their way was none other than Storm Lash, with at least ten other ponies all armed with crossbows, an amused expression on his face.

Most of them had angry expressions on their faces, Night Gale and the others had surprised expressions on their faces, this only made Storm Lash more amused, "well, I must say, a decoy ship, that was a very clever move, I must say you actually had me fooled, but now, I get to kill all of you myself" he said, with a sinister grin, by this time Night Gale had heard enough.

"In your dreams" he said stepping forward, and getting into a fighting stance, a wide smile appeared on Storm Lash's face, "Night Gale what are you doing, get back here" Flame was saying, but was stopped, by all the soldiers, pointing the crossbows at him, Flame stepped back with a worried look on his face, just as Storm Lash started chuckling.

"Now Flame, let the boy make his own choice, it's time he learns the consequences of making a mistake" he said as he turned to Night Gale, "very well, you wish to seal your fate now, so be it" he said as he too got in a fighting position, soon Night Gale and Storm Lash were circling each other, the soldiers on his side, had put away their crossbows, in order to make it a fair fight, Night Gale had a very angry expression on his face, while Storm Lash was only smiling.

With one quick motion, Night Gale charged forward, as he unsheathed his knife, and pounced at Storm Lash, who only smiled and dodged to the side, he smiled and turned around and watched Night Gale crash to the floor, but get right back up, and try again.

Night Gale was yelling out, as he swung his blade at Storm Lash, who easily dodged all of them, this only made Night Gale angrier, he swung one last time, but Storm Lash expected this, and caught his hoof, surprising Night Gale, who had a shocked look on his face, Storm Lash merely smiled as he began twisting his hoof to the side, Night Gale cried out in pain, Storm Lash smiled as he brought his hoof around and delivered a hard punch to Night Gale's jaw, sending him flying across the room, leaving him dazed on the floor.

When Night Gale recovered, he heard what sounded like an arrow being loaded on a crossbow, but it was much louder, he refocused his eyes and looked up, looking down at him was Storm Lash, with a sick grin on his face, and a weapon in his hand, but it was unlike any weapon he had ever seen.

Storm Lash merely smiled, "such a pity, if only you had been like your father when he was younger, he was one of the best fighters around, but you did inherit his foolishness, anyway, goodbye Night Gale" he said as he slowly began to pull back the trigger, Flame, Twilight, and Star Dust looked on in horror, as well as the others, Night Gale knew he had lost, all he could do was close his eyes, and wait for the end.

But just as he did, suddenly the room began to shake violently, throwing all of them off their hooves, Night Gale opened his eyes with a smile, he saw that Storm Lash was desperately trying to keep his balance, Night Gale took advantage of this, and punched him as hard as he could in the chin, sending him flying across the room, and dropping the weapon.

He pushed himself up, and ran over to the others, "come on we need to get out of here, that's our ride" he said helping his family up, they all nodded and ran out of the door, Storm Lash pushed himself up with a groan, an angry look on his face, "don't let them leave this place alive!" he said as they too ran out the door.

Luckily for them, Flame still had a good memory of the place, and they quickly found their way out of the base, and into the open, what they saw, surprised all of them beyond belief.

In the air, were two E.S.S. air ships, raining down heavy fire on the mountain side, the enemy desperately, tried to fight back but were caught by surprise, just then, Night Gale hard something on his headset, _"glad you made it, now hop on board and well get you out of here" _he heard Striker say from the other end, just as he did, a bright light shined down on them, they all looked up, and watched as one of the air ships, began to set down, while the other continued firing at the base.

They all made their way to the ship, due to the dirt and sand along the valley floor, as the ship descended it created a large cloud of dust, but despite that they all made their way to the ramp, just as they were almost on, Night Gale heard a loud banging sound, and the cry of a familiar pony, he turned around and saw none other than his own sister, lying on the ground, clutching her back hoof.

He instantly ran off the ramp and made his way to her, when he got up to her, he looked down at her hoof, and saw it bleeding heavily, he immediately, tried to hall her on his back, but she cried out in pain, and fell to the ground, "go, just leave me here" she said, but that was the last thing on his mind, he hauled her on to his back again, and slowly made his way back to the ramp, the entire time the battle still raged around them, explosions went off left and right, nearly making them deaf.

When he walked up the ramp, Flame and Twilight ran up to him, as he set Star Dust down on the ground gently, "oh no, Star Dust are you okay!?" Twilight asked in a panic, Star Dust gave a pained smile, "I'm fine, don't worry about me" she said, just as some medics came and put her on a stretcher, Night Gale reached up to his headset, while Twilight went with his sister, Flame stayed there.

"Striker, were all on board, Star Dust is hurt, get us out of here now" he said into the headset, just as he did the ramp began to close, Flame walked up to his son, and out a hoof on his shoulder, "you did good son, I'm proud of you" he said, Night Gale smiled back, "thanks dad, now let's get you home, where you can have a real meal, I bet a few days as a prisoner, must have you hungry" he said, as the ship began to ascend into the air, Flame smiled just as his stomach began to growl, he chuckled, "you have no idea" he said as he began making his way up to the main deck.

**A/N: well there you have it, I apologize for not having this up sooner but I'm back for now, tune in next time to see what happens next.**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: hey I'm back again, with the next chapter, now is when it all gets more serious, the end is nearing.**

**The New Generation: chapter 13: a momentary time of peace**

It hadn't taken them long to escape the enemy, as they all left the valley, they realized that they were not being followed, which made them all suspicious, but that was least of their worries, at the time there only focus was to get back to the castle, and prepare for what's next, Flame and the others knew that Storm Lash wouldn't quit, a pony like him always had a back-up plan, he knew that this wasn't over.

Later in the day they arrived at the castle, Star Dust was moved to the royal guard medical station, within the castle, despite her saying she was alright, her family couldn't help but worry, Twilight and the others, were then taken to the throne room, where they were to meet up with the Princess's.

When they arrived, they were greeted by an overly excited princess of the sun, who was overjoyed to see her student, and all her friends once again, after planning out there next move, Celestia had a private talk with all the parents, explaining that the oath they made years ago, was no more, and so when Star Dust was to be released from the hospital, they would all meet up in the court chambers to tell the truth.

Twilight and Flame, as well as the others, expected nothing more than for their own foals to hate them for lying to them their whole lives, but they knew only time will tell.

(The next day…)

Thanks to the healing abilities of the doctors and nurses at the medical station, Star Dust was released the next day, the bullet had been successfully removed before the wound became infected, but despite that Star Dust still seemed to walk around with, a slight limp, but her family was overjoyed none the less.

Celestia informed them to all meet up, in the castle council chambers, later that day, they all met up in that location, luckily there was no meeting today, so the chamber was empty, all of them had gathered around a table that was set up in the middle of the room, all the parents recognized this place as, where they met, and made their oath, and now they gathered again at the same place, to break it.

They all gathered around the table, the foals on one side, and the parents on the other, with the two Princess's sitting at the end, the meeting was to be uninterrupted, and so it was only them.

All the parents turned and looked up at the Princess's, who both had serious expressions on their faces, "we've all come here to say what we need to say, after that, it's over and we put this behind us" she said with a calm tone, she then looked down at Flame and nodded her head, Flame looked over at Twilight, who shared his expression, he then sighed and stood up, he looked up, sitting directly across from them was Star Dust and Night Gale, both had tried to remain calm.

Flame had a sad look in his eyes as he began to speak, "Night Gale, Star Dust, your mother and I, owe you an apology" he began by saying, trying to keep his cool, but he continued none the less, "you see, your mom and I only did what we though was right, we wanted to keep you safe, and have a safe and happy foalhood, we didn't want you to end up living our lives, and seeing what we saw, we never meant for things to go this far, we know that you may never forgive us, but we just want you both to know, that we are truly sorry" he said, as he slowly sat down, by the end of his little speech, Star Dust had a both saddened and surprised look on her face, while Night Gale just looked away sadly.

Now it was Shining Armor and Cadence's turn, shining armor stood up, and looked across the table, at their young daughter.

"Melody, as your uncle put it, we only did what we thought was right, we didn't want to see you grow up, and see the things we did, we only wanted to keep you safe, and protect you, we are both very sorry, and we hope you can forgive us, for making a mistake" he said with a sad expression, as he sat down, Melody had a sad look on her face, but did her best to keep her cool.

Now it was Comet and Meadow's turn, Comet looked over at his wife, and slowly began to stand up, he turned to face their daughter, who had a neutral expression on her face, being the youngest, she didn't know whether to be happy, scared or angry, but she remained calm.

"Aurora…when you were born, your mother and I wanted nothing more than to keep you safe, to help you grow up in a safe environment, we never wanted you to have a life like ours, we thought that, by keeping the truth from you, it would keep you safe from harm, but we were wrong, we hope you can forgive us" he said as he sat down again, without another word.

Finally it was Dark Star's turn to speak, he looked over at Applejack, who had the faintest hint of ears in her eyes, but they knew they had to do it, he slowly stood up and turned his attention to their young son, who had a calm expression on his face, which lightly surprised them, but he continued anyway.

"Son, your mother and I, did our best to give you a safe foalhood, away from our past, where we never wanted you to live a life like ours; we only wanted what was best for you, we hope you can forgive us, for being the foolish ones" he said as he sat down, that being the last of them, they all turned their attention the Princess's, who had been listening to the entire conversation.

Celestia turned her attention to Night Gale and his friends, with a calm yet stern look on her face.

Night Gale and Star Dust looked at each other, and both nodded, Night Gale slowly stood up, Flame and Twilight waited for his reaction, they half expected him to start yelling at them, but they got the surprise of a life time when he began talking.

"Mom, dad, I think I speak for Star Dust and as well as our friends, when I say, what happens in the past should stay in the past, I could care less about what happened then, all I care about is what happens now, and I think everypony will agree with me" he said as he looked down across his side of the table, and back at his own parents, only to see them have surprised looks on their faces.

"I agree with Night Gale" they heard Melody say, Night Gale smiled, "same here" Solar Glaze said, with a smile, "me too" Aurora said with a smile, Night Gale turned to the Princess, with a smile, she smiled back down at him, she was about to speak, when suddenly the door on the other side of the room, flew open.

They all turned to the door, and saw Striker running into the room, with a panicked look on his face, he came up to the table, seemingly out of breath.

"Lieutenant, I though I informed you that this is a closed meeting, that we were not to be disturbed" she said with a stern look on her face, he looked up, as his breathing slowed and he calmed down, "yes, my apologies Princess, but we have a very serious problem" he said, they all exchanged worried expressions, and made their way out of the room.

**A/N: well, there you have it, the finale is approaching, come back next time, to find out what happens next.**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: well here it is, the end is almost upon us, sit back and enjoy.**

**The New Generation: chapter 14: taking action**

As they all made their way out of the council chambers, they followed the lieutenant into the royal guard headquarters, inside the castle.

As they walked through the many corridors of the large castle, they finally came up to the large door that led into the royal guard operating room.

Striker leaned up and pushed the door open, as they all walked in, as they all came in, they saw multiple Royal Guard soldiers, as well as E.S.S agents, running around the room, making their way across the room, Striker led them up to a large set of screens, where they saw multiple soldiers working on them, just as they did he stopped and turned to the Princess's.

"What is it you needed to tell us? Lieutenant" Celestia asked with a curious look on her face, Striker sighed, and looked up at her, "it appears that our little friends, haven't given up yet, they are on their way here, with an army" he said taking a quick glance at Flame, this comment shocked them all.

"How do you know this?" Celestia asked with a concerned look on her face, just as she did, the lieutenant turned to one of the soldiers that was working on the computer, "private, bring the radar on the screen" he said as the private nodded, after turning back to his post, he pressed a few buttons, and looked up at the screen, all the others turned their attention to the screen, as a giant radar appeared there, they all watched as it spun, the point in the middle was none other than Canterlot.

At first they saw nothing out of the ordinary, until they heard a beeping sound, and a bright dot appeared on the radar, just up in corner, they were all shocked to see it, as they were all looking at it, Striker began to speak up, "at first we just thought it was a malfunction, but then we got this transmission, from a Royal Guard base, only a few miles from here" he said as he walked over to the counsel and pressed a few buttons.

Then the screen went blank, and a loud noise filled the room, and soon they heard a voice speak up.

"_this is Corporal Lance, of Royal Guard base 22, we are under attack, these ships came out of nowhere, started attacking us, we are greatly outnumbered, we need back-up, their everywhere, ahhh!-what in the world, holy-"_ was all they heard the transmission say, before they started hearing static again, they remembered hearing fighting noises and explosions in the background, it was enough to convince them.

They all looked over at the Princesses who both had shocked looks on their faces; just Celestia cleared her throat, and looked down at the lieutenant, "what do you recommend we do?" Celestia asked looking down at the lieutenant, he sighed and looked at each and every one of them, and then turned his attention back to the Princess.

"I think that if they are coming here, we need to do everything in our power to stop them, before they can do any more damage" he said with a serious look, Celestia thought about it for a minute, then sighed, she turned her attention to flame and the others, who had calm looks on their faces.

Seeing the look in her eyes, they already knew what she was about to say, "Flame…I know that you and your family never wanted to do this again, that you wanted to live peaceful lives, but I'm asking you now, not as a Princess, but as an old friend, we need you, we would be greatly outnumbered, please will you help us?" she said with the most sincere tone any of them had ever heard.

Flame looked away for a moment, he turned to Twilight who gave him a warming smile, which he gladly returned, and he looked at his son and daughter, who shared their mom's expression, and finally he looked to the others, all of Twilights friends, had confident smiles on their faces, he smiled and turned back to the Princess, his expression now turned to a serious one.

"Normally, you would be right, but that bastard tried to hurt my friends and family, and he is going to pay, you can count us in" he said with a smile, Princess Celestia gave a heavy sigh of relief, and returned his smile.

Celestia turned back to the lieutenant, "there's your answer, get everypony ready, I want all of Canterlot on alert, in case things don't go in our favor, I want everypony to be evacuated as soon as possible, and see if you can get some new sets of armor, I think we might need it" she said looking back at Night Gale and Star Dust, with a smile.

"As you wish your highness" he said as he walked off, followed by all the others.

(Canterlot castle, armory)

After being led out, Striker led Flame and the others to the armory, to be suited up, as they walked in, Flame slowly made his way over to the set of armor that was labeled under his name, he chuckled to himself, as he opened up the chest that was beside the mannequin, that was dressed in his armor, he sighed as he reached inside, and pulled out the very blade that he had used in his battle against the god of darkness himself, Shadow Blaze.

He slowly unsheathed the blade, and held it in his hoof, the sun gleamed off the surface, as he looked at his reflection, he slowly closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, suddenly he opened his eyes with an angry look on his face, and he quickly sheathed the knife, and placed it on the chest.

He walked over to the mannequin, and began taking off all the armor, and putting it on himself, he pushed on the knee pads, after all these years it still fit him well, having the armor on after seven years, it felt different to him, but he pushed that though to the side, as he tightened the plate armor to his stomach and chest, next he reached up and took the knife off the chest, an reaching around his waist, he tightened the best, to make sure it wouldn't fall off, and now it was time for the final piece.

He slowly walked back over to the mannequin, which was now almost completely bare, except for the helmet, which was resting on the head.

Flame reached up and slid it off, he turned to him, and looked at it, observing it, since the battle all those years ago, Princess Celestia took the liberty, of polishing the armor, so that it would look nice, he smiled as he turned it back around, he turned to the mirror, and watched himself raise it above his head, and slowly set it down, over his head, he opened his eyes and looked back at his reflection, at first he didn't even recognize himself, having a set of armor on, reminded him so much of when he was a young and foolish stallion, working for his old master, Skyfall.

Every time he remembered that part of his life, his mind drifted back to that fateful night, when he was a young colt, to the night his parents were killed, deep in his mind he couldn't help but wonder what they would think of him now, would they be proud, or sad, he had helped save the kingdom on two separate occasions, and possibly now even a third.

He was a husband to a beautiful mare, and the father of two foals, thinking back on his life, he couldn't help but think, of what his family would say to him, if they were alive, but he knew it could never happen, with one last look in the mirror, he sighed and slowly made his way out of the room.

(Canterlot castle, throne room)

After he was ready, Flame met up with the others, in the throne room, where they would plan out their attack, in the middle of the room, was a table set up, with everypony standing around it, Flame smiled and took a spot right next to his wife, who smiled at him, admiring his suit of armor.

After they had all gathered around, all of them dressed in armor, Celestia turned to the lieutenant, "lieutenant, your report" she said, Striker cleared his throat and began speaking.

"thank you your highness, what we know so far is that, there are three airships, all of them are heavily armed, and very well armored, sending out our own airships, is out of the question, they would be destroyed in a matter of minutes, but we have formulated a new plan, one that will not require such a massive assault" he said, taking a breath in, they all waited patiently for him to continue.

"With permission from Silver, we are going to use a device of his own designs, I trust you are all familiar with this" he said holding up one of the teleportation devices, that they used to get to Canterlot in order to confront Shadow.

"the new plan, most of you, will use these in order to get onboard the airships undetected, and from there you can make your way to the primary flight deck, and capture Storm Lash" he said with a confident look on his face, but that stopped when Flame spoke up, "wait a minute, what do you mean 'most of us'" Flame said with a suspicious look on his face, Striker sighed and looked down, he quickly looked back up, with a worried look on his face.

"unfortunately…we only have enough of the devices to teleport only thirteen of you, the others will have to stay here" he said with a nervous look on his face, all their eyes widened, Twilight looked up at Flame with a scared look in her eyes, "are you sure of this?" Shining Armor asked, Striker looked up at him, "it's the only way, I'm sorry" he said with a sad look on his face.

Celestia turned to the others, with an apologetic look on her face, "I'm sorry too, but it's the only way, who is going to go?" she asked with a calm look on her face.

Flame looked at his family, and then to all his friends, "I know I will" Flame said with a confident look on his face. Twilight looked at him with a worried expression on her face, Night Gale and Star Dust, turned to the Princess's, "so will we" Night Gale said with confidence, Twilight was about to protest, but Flame had already beat her to it.

"No, it's too dangerous, I won't put you two in any more danger" Flame said with a worried look on her face, Night Gale looked up at his father, with a confident look on his face, "dad, we can handle ourselves, we told you, Sky Breeze trained us, he taught us how to fight, we'll be fine, you're going to need as much help as you can get, please dad, give us a chance" he said looking at his dad, Flame was surprised by what he said, and began to think it over, he was about to say something, when Sky Breeze himself spoke up.

"Their right Flame, they have shown exceptional progress in combat, they have great skill, with more training, they can become as good as you" he said looking at them, despite what he said, Twilight was still against letting them go, and for the first time, in some time, Flame disagreed with her.

"Very well, but the second things get out of control, you get out of there, is that understood" he said, the last part with a very serious tone, Night Gale and Star Dust nodded, the Princess's smiled, and turned to the others, soon all the others were volunteering, after some talk, they managed to narrow it down, to a certain few.

(Later…)

After they finished picking out the team members, they all met in Royal Guard headquarters, despite having complete faith that they will all return, the Princess's gave them one last time to say goodbye to their families, and they had learned from personal experience that things never go as they plan.

Night Gale, Star Dust, and Flame were all standing in front of Twilight, with sad looks in their eyes, Night Gale walked up and wrapped his mother in a tight hug, to them the moment was too sad to spoil with words, so they just stood there, soon Night Gale let go, and Star Dust walked up, and did the same, wrapping her mom in a hug.

They stood there again for what seemed like a few hours, but it was only a few minutes, soon she let go, Night Gale and Star Dust looked at each other, and walked away, over to the others, with tears in their eyes, leaving only Flame and his wife.

He turned to her with a comforting smile, Twilight returned it, only she had tears falling from her eyes, "well, you already know what I'm going to say" he said with a smile, Twilight reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked back up at him, "I know, but it's still nice to hear you say it" she said looking up at him, Flame smiled and pulled her into a tight hug, Twilight buried her head in his neck, as tears fell from her eyes and hit his shoulder.

Flame put his hoof on the back of her head, and turned his lips to her ear, "I will return, and I'll bring them back with me, I won't let anything happen to them, I promise" he said as they pulled apart, they looked each other in the eyes, they leaned forward, and their lips connected in one last passionate kiss, they stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the moment, but they knew it couldn't last, they separated, and looked into each other's eyes, they leaned their heads together, and let their horns touch.

Silver watched from the other side of the room, with a happy smile on his face, every time he saw a happy couple, it would remind him of his own wife, he remembered the last time he saw her, before she left, he never would have known that it was the last time he would see her, before she was killed in cold blood, even after the seven years since that day, he felt a single tear glide down his face, he remembered that today was the day, it had now been seven years since his wife was taken away, perhaps it was fate's twisted sense of humor, that they were once again on the verge of a war.

He was interrupted from his thoughts, when he heard his son walk up behind him, "dad, everything's ready, it's time to go" he said but noticed his father's sad look, "dad, what's wrong?" he asked, it took him a few minutes to realize why he was sad, but then it hit him, and he too remembered what day it was.

"dad, your still thinking about mom aren't you?" he said with a sad expression, even after all this time, a part of him, still believed it was his fault, he was there to witness his mother's death, right in front of his very own eyes, and that day he promised never to let anything bad happen to those he cared about, that is exactly what he intended to do, and then he heard his dad speak up.

"yeah, it's just that, not a day goes by were I don't miss your mother,…I'm sure if she is watching over us, she would be proud of who you are" he said, as he turned around, and put a hoof on his sons shoulder, Comet smiled and let a tear fall from his eyes, "I think she would be proud of both of us dad" he said, just as Striker came up to them, and told them it was time.

They all nodded, and made their way to the center of the room, they all said their final goodbyes to their wives, Flame looked back at Twilight, and smiled, he would make sure it wouldn't be there last time seeing each other, the same went for his foals, Comet gave his wife one last kiss on the head, before he joined his own daughter, next to the others, Silver turned to look at Sky Breeze and his daughter, one last time, before he raised his hoof up and pressed down on the transporter.

They soon found themselves enveloped in a white light, and in one flash they were gone.

**A/N: I apologize for not getting this up sooner, but school is a pain, anyway, hope you all enjoyed, the next chapter will be out soon.**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: sorry for the long wait, high school is a pain, but I'm back, this will be one of the last few chapters, so read and enjoy.**

**The New Generation: chapter 15: confrontations**

(League air ship, cargo bay)

A bright flash filled the room, as our hero's, appeared in a white flash, when it cleared, they all got up and looked at their surroundings, they seemed to appear in the lead ship's cargo bay, they looked around and all they saw were big piles of boxes, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Flame turned around and saw everypony standing behind him, Night Gale walked over to his dad, "so what's the plan, dad?" he asked in a curious tone, Flame turned to him with a smile, and then turned to the others, with a serious look.

"Alright, we need to think this through, just in case things don't go the way we want, we need to make sure, these ships can't do any harm" he said as he turned to Shining Armor and Melody, "Shining Armor, you two, search the cargo bay for the weapon stash" he said, Shining looked down at his daughter, and then back at Flame, and nodded his head.

Flame then turned to Silver, Comet and Aurora, "the three of you, find the weapons room, if things don't go our way, at least we have a fair fight" he said pointing his hoof at them, Silver nodded.

Finally, he turned to Dark Star and Solar Glaze, "the two of you, find the shield generator, and do whatever it takes to shut it down, Night Shadow and Beltway, you two should go with them, for old time's sake" he said with a smile, Dark Star looked at his old friends with a smile, and then they all looked back at Flame.

"Alright, we know what's at stake, but let's show these bastards who they are messing with, split up, we'll meet back here when we're done" he said, and they all took off in different directions, leaving only Flame and his family.

"What are we going to do, dad?" Star Dust asked, Flame turned to her and Night Gale, "we'll go and find Storm Lash, lets head to the bridge, he's bound to be there" he said as they took off down the hall, in search of their enemy.

(League ship, outside the bridge)

As Flame and his foals ran down the halls, the couldn't help but notice that, there were no guards standing or walking in the halls, this only made Flame more suspicious, but he pushed that thought to the side temporarily, when they came up to a huge set of metal doors, they had a feeling, that behind those doors is the main flight deck, as well as Storm Lash.

Before he went to open it, Flame turned back to his son and daughter, with a serious look on his face. "okay, this is it, if anything happens to me, leave, find the others and get out of here, do you understand" he said in a serious tone, Night Gale and Star Dust were shocked by what they were hearing, from their own father, "but dad, were not going-" he said before he was cut off, "I said do you understand me, your safety is all I care about right now" he said in an honest tone, they looked at each other, and then turned back to him, and nodded their heads, Flame sighed and turned back to the door.

He slowly reached up and pushed it open, and they all slowly walked inside, the first thing they saw was the large front window, off in the distance they could see the castle, with royal guard air ships floating around it. Just as they began walking forward, they heard a bone chilling laugh, come from in front; they all faced forward, and saw none other than Storm Lash standing in front of them, with his back facing them.

Flame took a step forward, and put his hoof on the holster of his knife, ready in case Storm Lash pulled a fast one on him, but he didn't. "Ah Flame, I'm glad you could make it, I've been expecting you, come to see the fall of your beloved kingdom" he said as he turned around to face them, with a smile on his face.

Flame didn't react to his comment, "Storm Lash, stop this now, there are too many lives at stake here, do you really want to murder families, especially foals" he said in a confident tone, but his only reaction was Storm laughing, "oh Flame, that is why you are weak, you have your petty morals, that keep you from discovering what you are really capable of, but I abandoned my sense of morality years ago, killing a foal means nothing to me, in fact I do it for fun" he said with a sick smile on his face.

Flame was actually shocked at is comment, he knew that somepony's were capable of horrific things, but he had never heard this before, but he shook it off and focused on the present task, "there's always a chance to change, you can stop this, before it goes too far" Flame said in a calm yet serious tone, Storm looked away for a minute, as if he was actually thinking about it, then he turned back to Flame with a smile.

"Well, I appreciate the offer, but I've come too far just to stop here" he said as he got into a fighting position, Flame sighed sadly, "then you leave me no choice" he said as he too got in a fighting stance.

The room fell silent as Flame and Storm stared each other down, Night Gale and Star Dust could only watch in anticipation, the other ponies that were in the room, kept the ship flying.

Just then, Storm Lash charged forward in a flash, Flame did the same, both of them had their knives drawn, and placed in between their teeth, when they were a few feet apart, they jumped in the air at each other, time seemed to slow down, both of them had angry looks on their face.

They clashed together, with Flame landing hard on the ground, and Storm Lash landing on top of him, as they landed storm rose up his knife with a smile, and thrust it down, Flame acted quickly and caught his hooves.

Both of them struggling, Night Gale and Star Dust felt as if they couldn't do anything, the whole time Flame was having trouble, resisting Storm's attack, he hadn't been in a real fight for years, he looked up, and saw the knife was a few inches from his neck, the entire time Storm Lash had a sadistic smile on his face, as he pushed the knife down even harder.

Flame knew he wouldn't be able to overpower him, and in one quick motion he pushed the knife up, past his head, and let go, instead of hitting him, the knife pierced into the floor right next to his head, Storm Lash was completely surprised, he tried his hardest to pull the knife out, but it was firmly planted in the floor, Flame used this opportunity to punch Storm Lash in the stomach, the force of the blow made Storm release the knife, and in one swift motion, Flame used his back legs and delivered a kick right into Storm's stomach, causing him to fly off of him, and fall to the floor.

Flame pushed himself up, and faced Storm, who was temporarily dazed, but he stood up and faced Flame with a smile, "you've lost your touch flame, what happened to that skilled fighter that killed the lord of darkness" he said with a smile.

Flame only smiled back and picked up his knife from the floor, "why don't you come and find out" he said, and Storm's smile disappeared, in one swift motion, he took off in the air, and charged straight at Flame, he was faster than Flame could keep up with, the next thing he knew he felt Storm slam into him at full force and pin him up against the wall, the blow left Flame's vision temporarily blurred, but when it refocused, he saw Storm Lash pull out another knife that was concealed under his cloak, and thrust it forward, aimed straight at his head once again.

Flame acted quickly and moved his head, to the side, and the blade narrowly cut through his mane, as he saw storm trying to pull it out, he brought his hoof up and delivered a punch to Storm's face only for it to be stopped, by Storm's free hoof, as he caught it, Storm let go of the knife, and brought his hoof straight into Flame's stomach.

Flames eyes widened, as the force of the blow knocked the wind out of him, Storm smiled and brought his other hoof to the same place, he did so repeatedly, until Flame coughed up some blood, Storm smiled as he pulled him away from the wall, and delivered one final punch to Flames chin, sending him flying to the middle of the room.

He landed hard on the floor with a grunt, he turned around and saw Storm slowly walking towards him, he turned onto his stomach, and tried to crawl towards the knife, that Storm had dropped, just as he was about to get there, he felt himself be turned onto his back and lifted up by his collar, and he felt another sharp pain in his face which blurred his vision, sending him back down to the ground, with a cry of pain.

Storm looked down at him with a frown, "you know something Flame, it doesn't matter even if you beat me, the destruction of this kingdom shall come, but you won't be round to see it" he said as he unsheathed his knife once again and raised it above his head, just as he was about to bring it down, "hey you…" he heard a familiar young male voice say from behind him, he sharply turned around only to see, a very angry Night Gale staring at him with his horn glowing brightly, "…stay away from my father!" he said as he bent down and shot a very powerful blast of magic from his horn, Storm was too surprised to act, the blast hit him and sent him flying across the room, he smacked hard against the wall and slid down, no longer moving.

(League airship, cargo bay)

After they had split up, Shining Armor and Melody did as they were instructed and began searching the cargo bay for the weapon stash, but so far they hadn't had any luck, all they had found was large stack of wooden boxes, as far as they could see.

"Dad, shouldn't we be helping uncle Flame, or at least helping out the others?" she said as hey continued walking through the rows of boxes, Shining Armor looked back at his daughter, and sighed, "no, we need to find their weapon stash, besides I'm sure the others are fine" he said as they continued making their way through, after a few minutes of silence, they began to hear the faintest sound of talking, Shining Armor raised his hoof up, and they stopped, it seemed to be coming from the direction they were going.

Shining began looking around, and when he looked to his left he saw a stack of boxes, shaped like a stair case, he motioned for his daughter to follow him, as they jumped up the boxes, they made their way over to the voices, and what they ended up seeing shocked them beyond belief.

As they made their way on top of the boxes, they saw that it eventually ended and the rest of the bay was nothing but an empty space, but as they got closer, the voices got louder, it began to sound like a bunch of ponies having a conversation, as they reached the edge, they lowered themselves down, and peaked over the edge.

Indeed there were no more boxes, but the rest of the room seemed to be taken up by explosives of all kind, from barrels of fuel to gunpowder, it shocked them beyond belief, the room was filled with them, every highly explosive element one could find.

When they looked to the side they saw a group of the leagues soldiers, sitting in a circle, laughing and joking around, in order to go unseen, they ducked down even further, they watched as another pony walked up to the group, with a calm yet serious look on his face.

"Alright boys, let's get out of here, remember what the boss said, he'll keep our guests occupied until we get within close range of the castle, then we got to get out of here fast" he said as they all stood up and walked away, one of them walked up to him.

"What's the boss plan to do with all this stuff anyway?" one of them asked, the other one simply smiled, "when we are in close enough range, and after out guests are taken care of, he set's the timer on all the explosives, and while we are safely out of here, this ship will crash into the castle, igniting all these explosives, completely wiping out the entire city, no come on, we need to move" he said as they walked off, to the side.

The entire time he was listening, Shining Armor couldn't believe what he was hearing, his eyes widened, as he looked back at his daughter, who only shared his expression, "what do we do, dad?" Melody asked with a scared look on her face, Shining shook off his shocked look, and his expression turned serious.

Come on Melody, we need to get the others, there's nothing we can do here, let's go, we need to get off this ship" he said as he took off the way they came, with his daughter running after him, when they came to the place where they arrived, they went down the hall, that Silver, Comet and Aurora went down.

(League airship, main hallway)

As Silver, Comet and Aurora ran down the halls, they began to grow suspicious of the lack of guards and soldiers, but they pushed it to the side, as they came across a split in the hall, revealing three other ways to go, "you might as well say it dad, were lost" Comet said with an aggravated look on his face.

Just then they heard a set of voices, "ha, found you!" said some guards as they came running down the hall, just as they did two arrows came out of nowhere, hitting them directly in the chest, instantly killing them, leaving only one, the three of them had surprised looks on their faces, they turned around to see none other than Shining Armor and Melody running towards them.

"what happened, did you find the weapon stash" Silver said surprised, "yeah we did but it's not what we thought, this entire ship is set on a crash course to the castle, it's loaded with explosives, if it hits, it will wipe Canterlot off the map" Shining said in a panicked tone.

"What! Are you sure?" Silver said with wide eyes, Shining nodded, "we need to get off this ship, where's Dark Star and the others?" Shining asked, with an impatient look on his face, "they should still be headed for the shield generator" he said, remembering where they were supposed to go, "then let's go" Shining said as he ran past them and down the hall, the others did the same running down the halls until they found them.

(League airship, shield generator room)

After wandering down the halls, avoiding guard patrols, Dark Star and his friends finally made it to the shield generator, "finally we found it, took us long enough" Solar Glaze said in relief as they walked into the room, when they saw no guards anywhere, they began to get suspicious, but it went away when they saw the massive machine that was the shield generator, their job was finding a way to stop it.

They saw a flight of stairs, which lead up to where the console was, and all ran up it, the room was filled with a loud humming sound, making it hard for them to hear each other, when they reached it, they saw a series of buttons along the console, "okay, I have no idea how to work this" Dark Star yelled above the roar of the engine.

"What! You mean you don't know how to disable this, now what are we supposed to do, great job Dark Star" Night Shadow began yelling, "yeah well, I don't see you doing a better job!" he yelled back, the entire time they were arguing, Beltway and Solar Glaze just looked at each other awkwardly, until they finally had enough.

Beltway walked past them, and up to the console, he unsheathed one of his scimitars, and raised it above the console, in one swift motion, he brought it down, and the blade pierced through it, suddenly the engine began to break, the machine screamed as the engine came to a stop and the room filled with silence, Beltway lifted up his scimitar and turned to the others, he reached back and put it in his sheath, giving them a smug look.

Solar Glaze was about to burst out laughing, at his dad's look, Dark Star and Night Shadow looked at Beltway with a surprised look, as he walked calmly down the stairs.

Just as they did that, the rest of them came running into the room, "hey Shining Armor, we uh…destroyed the generator…I think" Dark Star said in a confused tone, as they walked up to him, "that's not important, we need to get off this ship, its set to crash into the castle and explode, we need to find Flame and the others, and get out of here, come on!" Shining said as they all ran out of the room, Dark Star and the others all exchanged worried looks and ran out after them.

**A/N: well, that was interesting, sorry for the long wait, this will be one of the last chapters of this story, the end is coming soon.**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: here it is the second to last chapter, read and enjoy the final climactic battle.**

**The New Generation: chapter 16: the greatest sacrifice**

After Night Gale had blasted Storm Lash, sending him flying towards the other side of the room, he turned to the side and helped his father up, despite being a very well trained fighter, it has been seven years since he was in any real fight, and it showed, a small amount of blood trickled from Flame's nose, as he got up Night Gale looked at him with a worried expression.

"Are you okay, dad? He asked as he helped him up, Flame grunted as he was helped up on to his hooves, when his son asked him the question, he couldn't help but chuckle lightly, and face him.

"Yeah I'm fine, I've taken far worse beating then that, believe me" he said as his expression turned serious, as they turned to face where Storm had landed, but to their surprise they didn't see anything, they both unsheathed their knives, and began looking around, Night Gale walked over to Star Dust, and they stayed together.

The room fell dead silent as they searched, but saw no sign of their foe, as Night Gale and Star Dust slowly made their way back to their dad; they had a feeling that at any moment Storm would try to catch them by surprise.

When they met up with Flame in the middle of the room, Flame turned to Star Dust, "are you okay?" he asked in a worried tone, Star Dust nodded, "yeah I'm fine" she said, Flame was about to speak again, when they suddenly heard the sound of creaking metal, and they all faced different directions looking for the source of the sound.

When nothing happened at first, they all turned back to each other, and Night Gale was about to speak, but was interrupted, when something swooped by, and smacked into him sending flying across the room and smacking into the wall, "Night Gale!" he heard his sister and dad call out.

Night Gale smacked hard against the wall, crying out in pain, he suddenly felt himself get pushed up against the wall; he refocused his vision, and looked up only to see the hateful eyes of Storm Lash.

"I'm going to kill you boy, slowly and very painfully!" he shouted as he head butted Night Gale, and punched him in the stomach repeatedly, until he finally spat out blood, Storm smiled and threw him to the ground behind him.

Night Gale slowly began to crawl away, trying to reach for his knife, but was stopped by a painful blow to the side, causing him to roll over on his stomach, he looked up at his side, as his vision filled with tears, he could barely see as Storm reached under his cloak, and pulled out his pistol, he walked up to Night Gale's side, and pointed the pistol down at him.

He heard Storm Lash chuckle, "well Night Gale, you truly are your father son, you possess the same magical talent as your mother and father, even your fathers fighting skill, but…you are still weak, you will always be weak, you're a fool just like your father" he said as he pointed the pistol straight at Night Gale's head.

"Such a pity, to waste such a confident young unicorn like yourself, but I can't let you live" he said as his hoof tightened on the trigger, Night Gale could only close his eyes, and wait for the end, Storm smiled as he was about to pull the trigger.

Suddenly, he felt a hoof tap on his shoulders, a confused look appeared on his face as he spun around, and was met with a hoof to the face, knocking the pistol out of his hoof, he fell to the floor with a cry, and he looked up, and saw Flame standing above him, with an enraged look on his face.

A shocked look appeared on his face as Flame leaned down and picked him up by his cloak, and brought him up to eye level, and stared into them, "don't you ever threaten my family again, you bastard" he said as he pulled back another punch and hit him square in the jaw, sending him flying up against the wall again.

Storm hit the wall at full force, crying out in pain, he slid to the floor, he looked up at Flame with a shocked look, he brought his hoof up to his lips, and wiped it across, he brought it forward and saw that there was some blood there, he then looked back up and saw Flame slowly walking towards him, his shocked expression, turned to an angry on as he pushed himself up, and faced Flame.

"Alright then Flame, it's time we finished this" he said as he unsheathed his knife, and charged at Flame.

While they continued to fight, Star Dust ran to her brother's side, and helped him up, "Night Gale are you alright?" She asked with panic in her voice, "Yeah I'm okay, what about you?" he asked she nodded, and they turned to see their dad fighting Storm, "we've got to help him" he said getting up, but was met by a sharp pain in his side, and Star Dust helping him to sit down.

Storm yelled out, as he swung his blade at Flame, but Flame dodged it with ease, as he missed, Flame brought his hoof right up into Storms stomach catching him by surprise.

After recovering, Storm swung his blade again, this time catching Flame by surprise, but he managed to narrowly avoid, he grunted in pain, as the tip of the knife narrowly cut across his cheek, causing a small trickle of blood, finally Flame had had enough of Storm's games, he yelled out in rage as he rammed right into him and pushed him up against the wall.

Flame unsheathed his knife and pushed it forward, Storm reacted and leaned his head to the side, the blade barely cut through the edge of his mane, as it planted firmly in the wall, a shocked look appeared on Flame's face as he tried to pull it out, in doing so loosening his grip on Storm, storm took advantage of this and punched Flame in the stomach, making him step back.

Storm charged forward, screaming wildly swinging his blade, Flame dodging every swipe, until he made a critical mistake, and made an opening, in which Storm took advantage and punched Flame in the face, sending him crashing to the floor.

Flame landed on his stomach and cried out in pain, Storm lash breathed out heavily, and looked to his side, and saw the pistol he had dropped, and he looked from Flame to the pistol, and smiled.

He leaned down and picked up the pistol, and slowly began walking up to Flame, the entire time Night Gale and Star Dust could only look on in horror, as Flame began trying to crawl away, Storm laughed.

"you know Flame, during our fight I came to realize something, it occurred to me that a pony as weak as you, managed to defeat Shadow Blaze himself, the most powerful pony to walk this planet, and you managed to kill him, such a weak pony as yourself, but now I know, he underestimated you, but rest assure…" he said as he grabbed Flame by the back of his cloak, and pulled him up, raising the pistol to the back of his head.

"…I won't be making that mistake" he said as he slowly put pressure on the trigger, Flame looked up at his foals, they had horrified expressions on the faces, but he had a plan, he winked at them, and a confused look appeared on their faces.

Just as Storm was about to pull the trigger, Flame moved his head to the side, as the gun went off, creating a loud bang, as the bullet hit the floor, Flame moved to the side, and using his knife he brought it forward, still completely shocked by the sudden twist, Storm didn't react in time, and the sound of metal piercing flesh, went around the room.

Storm Lash, gasped and looked up at Flame, seeing the angered expression on his face, he looked down and saw Flame's knife, stabbed deep into his chest, almost up to the handle of the knife.

Flame slowly let go of the knife, and Storm Lash, staggered backwards, he brought his hoof up to the handle of the knife, and looked up at Flame, who was still looking at him, with anger in his eyes.

He suddenly fell to the floor, on his side, and was no longer moving, Flame sighed heavily and turned back to his foals, he walked up to them, "hey dad, are you okay?" Night Gale asked, at first he didn't answer, to them he seemed distant, but he turned and looked down at his son, "yeah I'm fine, what about you two?" he asked they both told him they were fine, much to his relief.

Just as they were done talking, they door on the other side of the room, opened an in rushed all the others, they all looked out of breath, they were about to speak, when they saw the looks on their faces, "what happened in here?" Silver asked as they all walked up to them, Flame pushed himself up on all hooves, and walked over to them, "Storm Lash is dead" he said, but just as he did they heard a weak laugh come from behind them.

"oh, don't be too sure of that" said a familiar voice, they all turned around to see Storm Lash standing on three of his hooves, in the fourth was his pistol, pointed straight at them, "you can't kill me that easily" he said, in a weak voice, but still loud enough to let them hear, Flame noticed that the knife was removed, and the wound was bleeding heavily.

All of them were too surprised to speak, Storm Lash smiled as he slowly pointed the pistol right at Flame, "I suppose, since I'm going to die either way, I'll take one of you with me, since its fair, I think I'll you Flame, an eye for an eye don't you think" he said as he closed one of his eyes and aimed it.

Night Gale and the others could only stare, but he wasn't going to just stand by and watch his father die, "I hope you had time to say goodbye to your dear wife Flame, as well as your children, goodbye Flame" he said as he was about to pull the trigger.

Just as he did, Flame felt himself be pushed to the side, just as the pistol went off, and the room filled with another loud banging sound, that echoed off the wall, Flame landed hard on his side, and grunted in pain, but just as quickly he pushed himself up, and looked around in a panicked way.

"Is everypony alright, nopony got hurt!" he said in a panicked tone, he looked around, from what he saw nopony was hurt, much to his relief, that is until he heard a familiar voice from behind, "dad…" he heard a voice say, they all turned around, and saw none other than Night Gale, walking towards him, on three hooves, the fourth was pressed up against his chest, a thick red liquid spilling out all over his hoof, a horrified expression on his face.

"Night Gale…" he said in a hushed tone, Night Gale didn't answer, he continued walking over to them slowly, until he lost his balance and fell to the floor, "Night Gale, NO!" he shouted as they all ran to him, Flame and Star Dust bent down and brought his head up, seeing his eyes half-closed, Flame began to panic, as tears began to fall from his eyes, "Night Gale, just hold on son, you're going to be fine, just stay awake, keep your eyes on me" he said as they all felt tears in their eyes, just as they did, they heard another weak laugh.

They all turned and saw Storm standing in a more upright position, holding some kind of small box in his hooves, "well Flame, now you will know what it truly means to feel pain" he said as he brought his hoof forward, "if I'm going to die, I'll take you all with me!" he shouted as he pressed the button that was on the top, and he suddenly fell to the ground again, and did not move.

Suddenly the room, was filled with a bright red flash, and the sound of an alarm going off, Flame looked down at Night Gale, and saw that he was still breathing, "Dad…I'm sorry" he said, "no don't you be sorry, just stay calm, you're going to be alright, we'll get you home" he said as they began to life him, but Shining Armor stopped them, "wait we can't leave, we have to stop this ship, it's going to crash into the castle" he shouted in a panicked tone, they all looked at each other.

Suddenly, Silver walked forward, "I'll stay, the rest of you go, get Night Gale to the hospital" he said, but his son came up. "What! Dad you can't, I'm not going to leave you behind" he shouted, but Silver would not listen, "listen son, I'll steer this thing off the path, and crash into the mountains, I'll be out before it crashes, just go, if it crashes into the castle, the whole city will be destroyed, just go I'll be back, I promise you, we don't have time to argue, now go!" Silver shouted, as he ran up to the wheel that would steer this thing off its course.

Comet hesitated, but then Shining Armor spoke up, "Comet come on, we need to get out of here" he shouted above the alarm, Comet took one last look at his dad, and ran to the others, he placed down one of the teleportation devices and pressed down on it, and they all disappeared in a bright flash, leaving Silver alone, he turned around and ran up to the wheel, he wrapped his hooves around it and began pulling it with all the might he could muster, to the right, but it wouldn't budge.

(Canterlot castle, royal guard headquarters)

As they appeared in a bright flash of light, they all appeared right where they left off, the second they managed to refocus their vision, they were all met by a fit of cheers, right after Flame refocused his vision, he was tackled to the ground, he looked up, only to see the tear filled eyes of his wife, she pulled him up, and pressed her lips up to his, in a passionate kiss.

After they separated, Flame remembered that Night Gale was still hurt, "we need a doctor, get a doctor!" one of the soldiers, when Twilight found out that Night Gale was shot, she nearly went crazy, but after Flame explained what happened she calmed down, Star Dust and Twilight went with Night Gale while Flame stayed in the room, where they would try to get into contact with Silver.

(League airship, bridge)

While trying to turn the wheel, Silver had little to no luck, the wheel was locked in place, just as he continued doing so a loud electronic voice filled the room, _"warning, warning, crash course has been set, predicted crash location is Canterlot Castle, please evacuate the ship immediately"_ he heard it say, and that didn't help him calm down, he continued to try and turn the wheel, but to no avail.

Then suddenly he got an idea, and moved over to the main console, he unsheathed his knife and pushed it down on the console, completely shattering it, as sparks flew everywhere, the same voice came on, _"warning, warning, automatic pilot is now disabled, automatic pilot is now disabled" _he heard it say, he smiled and returned to the wheel, he wrapped his front hooves around it and began turning it to the right, only this time it slowly began to turn with him, he watched through the window as the ship began to turn right, just as he planned, he smiled as he began to turn away, but he was suddenly thrown to the right, by the ship turning once again.

He got up, and looked through the main window, and saw that the ship had realigned itself with its original course, it was once again headed for the castle, "what the…" he tried saying but stopped himself and ran forward, and once again pushing on the wheel, trying to push it to the right, just like before, it slowly began to turn with his push.

Just as he did, the intercom system turned on, and on came a voice he recognized too much, _"Silver, are you there, what are you doing, you should be back by now, the ships changing course, get out of there now!" _he recognized the voice of Flame, he had to think about something to say, "sorry Flame, this thing is stuck on its course, if I don't stay here to manually steer it off course, you'll all be dead" he said as he focused his strength to keeping ship on the course he made for it.

(Canterlot castle, royal guard headquarters)

Flame was standing there, with a headset on his head, trying to talk to Silver, but he couldn't believe what he was hearing, Comet was standing next to him trying to listen in on their conversation, "Silver, if you don't get out of there, you're going to die" Flame said, as he turned on the main speakers, so they could all hear what was going on.

A few seconds past, when Silver finally answered, _"I know, but one death is better than hundreds, it's been a pleasure knowing you Flame, take care of your family, I know they mean the world to you"_ he heard him say, Flame felt tears in his eyes, at his friends words, he knew he was right, he took a glance back at Comet, who was on the verge of tears, he tried to be strong, but anypony could tell he was about to break down in tears.

Flame slowly brought his hoof back up to the headset, "it's been an honor, knowing you Silver Heart, I'm sorry my friend, I wish there was another way" Flame said into the microphone, he heard a sigh on the other end, _"yeah I am too, tell the others I'm sorry…and Comet if you're listening to this…"_ he said from the other end of the line, everypony turned and looked at Comet, who had tears falling from his eyes like a waterfall, Flame looked back at him, and then turned to face the console.

"_Comet…I don't know if you can forgive me for breaking my promise, but I just want you to know, I love you, you and your sister mean the world to me, I am so proud of you Comet, I could have never asked for a better son, and I'm glad I was around to see you grow up, into the strong young unicorn you are now, to see you grow up, to become a father… take care of your sister, and your family, and I'm sorry son, this is the only way" _he heard him say through the speaker, even his voice was cracking up, Comet had fallen down as the tears poured down his face, Meadow Dawn and Aurora walked up to him, and comforted him.

(League ship, bridge)

After he was done talking, Silver turned back to the task that he had to complete, he managed to steer the ship off its original course and straight into the mountains, he watched as the mountains grew closer and closer, he knew he only had seconds left, he slowly closed his eyes, and said something barely above a whisper, "I'm coming home, Sapphire" he said and then everything went black.

(Canterlot castle, royal guard headquarters)

Flame stood there, with the headset still on, he heard the lost signal tone, over and over, hoping it was wrong, one of the soldiers looked up from the screen, "we…we've lost the signal sir" he said with a sorrowful tone, Comet had tears running down his face, but he tried his best to keep clam, he took a deep breath, and stood up, all he did was slowly turn around and make his way out of the room, but not before passing the Princess's, who also had tears coming from their eyes, nopony said anything, as he left the room.

After hearing the same tone over and over again, Flame sighed heavily, and removed the headset, wiping his hoof across his eyes, wiping the tears away, he too slowly made his way out of the room, there was no cause for celebration today, today was a day of sorrow.

**A/N: ah damn, even I teary eyed while writing the end, hope you enjoyed, the next chapter will probably be the end, see you then.**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: well here it is, this will probably be the final chapter, or there might be another, maybe, maybe not, you'll have to read and find out.**

**The New Generation: chapter 17: the day of sorrow**

The last thing Night Gale remembered was Storm Lash pointing a pistol at his father, he then remembered, jumping in front of him, and then feeling and intense, sharp pain in his chest, then everything going black.

He then remembered at one point he woke up, because he felt himself get lifted onto a soft surface, and various voices talking, ones he didn't recognize them, or know what they were saying, because he soon, once again lost consciousness.

(Later…)

Night Gale opened his eyes, and was blinded by a bright light, he closed his eyes and tried his best to refocus, and when he opened them again, he could see a little better, he realized he was looking straight up into a light on the ceiling, he brought his hoof up to cover his eyes, when his vision had mostly returned, he saw that there was a tube sticking in it.

He groaned as his vision fully returned, he slowly tried lifting his head, he began to feel an intense pain, but he pushed it to the side, and looked around the room, he remembered it as the castle infirmary, just as he looked to his side, a pony walked up, dressed in a doctors uniform, he walked up to the monitors that were beside the bed, he tried to call out to him, but failed.

Suddenly, the doctor turned to him, and smiled, "hey, look who's finally awake, it's about time, you gave us all a scare" he said as he injected something into one of the tubes, which led to Night Gale's hoof.

Night Gale tried to speak up, but his voice came out very low and raspy, "what is that?" he asked, the doctor only chuckled, "don't worry, it's just something to help you relax, ease the pain, that's all" he said as he looked up at the monitor.

Night Gale tried sitting up, but was stopped by the doctor, "whoa, easy now, slowly, you were hurt pretty badly, just take it slow" he said in a caring tone, as he helped Night Gale sit up in his bed, Night Gale brought his hoof up to his head, and began rubbing, trying to ease the pain away, "what happened to me?" he asked, the doctor looked up at him with a concerned look.

"Well, you got shot in the chest by one of those pistols, you lost a lot of blood, we managed to safely remove the bullet, before the wound got infected, you're going to be fine" he said the last part with a smile.

Night Gale looked down at the sheets, and then back up at the doctor, as he was about to leave, "wait doctor, what about my parents, and my sister, what happened to them?" he asked with a worried voice, the doctor turned to him with a smile, "why don't you ask them yourself" he said as he pointed to the other side of the room, Night Gale followed to where he was pointing, and saw his own parents along with his sister, sleeping in the chairs, that were placed along the walls.

Just as the doctor closed the door, as if sensing that he left, Night Gale heard a groan, come from where his family was sitting, he looked over and saw his dad rubbing his eyes, and looking over at him.

When he rested his eyes on his son, an excited look appeared on Flames face, as he slowly got out of the chair and walked up to the bed, "hey son, good to see your finally up, how are you feeling?' he asked with a concerned voice, Night Gale looked up at him with a smile, "I've had better days" he said with a small chuckle, causing Flame to join in, just as he did they heard two more groans, come from behind them, they all turned around to see Twilight and Star Dust waking up.

When the two mares looked over at them, just like Flame, excited look appeared on their faces, as they practically ran over to him, Twilight threw her hooves around his neck, causing him to cringe in pain, making the others laugh.

"Oh Night Gale, you scared me half to death, don't you ever do that to me again" Twilight said, in a scolding tone, the others, including Night Gale began to chuckle, just as they did, the door opened, and in walked a mare that Night Gale was more than happy to see.

"Night Gale!" Crystal shouted as she ran up to them, and practically jumped on the bed, throwing her hooves around his neck, and hugging him tight, causing another groan to escape Night Gale's mouth, as she applied pressure to his gunshot wound, "ah Crystal, I'm happy to see you too, but that really hurts" he said in a strained voice, hearing this Crystal let him out of her death grip, with a blush.

"sorry, it's just I never thought I would see you again" she said as she gave him a smile, he always loved to see her smile, then his father came up, "well, I'll admit you gave us quite the scare, at first I thought I was going to be left here, with your mother and sister…that wouldn't end well" he said, prompting Twilight to give him a shove in the shoulder.

They all burst out laughing, they stayed like that for a few minutes, and eventually died down, and Flame's happy expression was replaced by a saddened look, one that Night Gale noticed immediately, "dad, what's wrong, what aren't you telling me?" he asked with a curious look on his face.

Flame looked away for a minute, feeling a tear run down his face, but he wiped it away, and turned back to his son, "Night Gale, it's about your uncle Silver, he…he didn't make it" Flame said trying to keep his cool, but they all watched as another tear fell down his face, when Night Gale heard this his heart rate began to quicken, as he feared for what his dad was about to say.

"What do you mean by that, dad?" he asked, as his voice began to crack, the very mention of his friend, made Flame even more sad, the other began to feel tears fall from their eyes, even Crystal was on the verge of tears.

"son, after we left, your uncle stayed behind to steer the ship off its course, he was forced to stay, otherwise the ship would have hit the castle, but he was forced to crash it into the mountains…I'm sorry son, but your uncle's dead" he said in a depressed voice, Night Gale felt his heart stop, he had always been very close with his uncle, they always got along whenever he came to visit, he pushed those memories into the back of his mind, as a few tears fell from his eyes, he took a shaky breath, and looked back up at his father.

"What about Comet, how's he taking it?" he asked wiping the tears away, Flame sighed, "were not sure, we haven't seen him in a while, the Princess's wanted to postpone the funeral until you woke up" he said trying his best to regain his composure, as well as the others.

After they did that, Night Gale decided to change the subject, "how long did the doctor say until I can leave?" he asked looking around, Flame looked up with a faint smile, "he said you can probably leave whence you woke up, after they see if your fit to get back out into the world" he said drying his eyes.

"Well, let's hope that's soon" he said with a smile.

(Two days later…)

Later that day, the doctors gave Night Gale permission to leave, but was to be watched, and not allowed to do any physical activities, but today there was no need for any, today was the funeral of general Silver Heart.

It was a cloudy day above the city of Canterlot, as the procession made its way through the quiet streets of the capitol, after the crash, royal guards patrolled the crash site, and Silver's body was recovered, and was placed in a casket, that was now being pulled through the streets, by two E.S.S officers.

Behind the casket was the Princess's royal carriage, with both of the sitting on it, as it was pulled by two royal guard members, both of them had saddened expressions on their faces, behind them was another carriage, inside was none other than Comet and his family, many ponies had gathered on the side of the streets, mourning the loss of their brave general.

In the carriage behind Comet's, was the captains, no pony spoke, the only sound was the silent weeping, coming from the crowd, many of the soldiers walked down the street, behind all the carriages, Flame and Twilight, as well as their friends and family, were given their own carriages, yet it was nothing to be happy about.

(Canterlot, royal cemetery)

After their long ride through the streets of the capitol, they finally reached their destination, due to his service to the kingdom; Silver was given a hero's funeral, they all gathered around as royal guards, carried the casket, to the device that would lower it into the ground, in front of that was a small stage, with a podium on it.

After they had all gathered around, Princess Celestia sighed sadly and slowly made her way up to the podium, she looked up at all the ponies who had attended, from Silver's closest friends, to his most trusted lieutenants, were there.

The Princess took a deep breath, and began to speak, "we have all come here, to mourn the loss of a close friend" she began by saying, "I have known Silver for a long time now, and he was…a brave, honorable, and loyal pony, he was a friend to all of us, but to some he was much more" she said glancing down at Comet, who seemed to be staring at his father's casket.

"we have some ponies here today, who would like to say a few words, for their fallen friend, I now give the stage to, one of Silver's closest friends, Flame" she said as she began to walk away, tears spilling from her eyes, Flame took a deep breath, and made his way up to the stage.

He breathed in a shaky breath, as he put his front hooves on top of the podium, he looked at his family and then back to the rest, and began to speak, "most of you know who I am, so I'll just say what needs to be said" he began, and then took yet another deep breath.

"I had known Silver for quite some time, and even when I first met him, I knew he was a very brave unicorn, he did what he knew was right, he always went out of his way to protect those he cared about, and if it weren't for him we would not be here right now" he said, at this point Comet had nearly broken down, but Flame continued.

"over the years I had known him, we became close friends…If it came down to it, I would trust Silver with my life…I believe that we should keep his legacy alive, by living our lives to the fullest every day, in any way possible, and I think I speak for my wife, my son, and my daughter, when I say, we will miss you Silver, you are a true hero" he said, as he left the stage without another word, as he left another familiar pony came up to the podium.

"you all know who I am, so I'll just get to the point" said Captain Shining Armor, who was also on the verge of tears, "I have worked with Silver for the past seven years, we shared a common interest, keeping the citizens of this kingdom safe, and I have never met a more devoted pony than Silver" he said, taking a deep breath.

"in the years we served together, I got to know him very well, and I knew he was a very brave and loyal pony, who wasn't afraid to do what was right, he sacrificed so mush to keep us safe, and I am honored to have known him, he was a great pony, a true symbol of what it means to be a hero, and he will be greatly missed…I now give the stage to Silver's son, Comet" he said as he too walked off the stage without another word.

Comet took a deep, very shaky breath as he slowly made his way up to podium, he had insisted on saying a few words, about his father, as he came up he wiped the tears from his eyes, and did his best to look confident, but everypony could tell, he was on the verge of tears.

"My father…was one of the greatest ponies I have ever known, he was my hero, he raised me and my sister from foalhood" he began by saying, " he taught me and my younger sister, everything he knew from the day we could walk, teaching us how to do the right thing, he was always patient with us, even in our younger, more rebellious years, I did not known then, the true meaning of the lessons he taught us, but now I do" he said as his lips began to quiver.

"I think I speak for myself and my sister, when I say, we could not have wished for a better father, or a better teacher, and just knowing he is at peace with our mother, is enough for me, I am proud to call him my father" he said as he took a deep breath, and made his way back down to his wife, who nuzzled her chin under his.

After everypony had finished speaking, some ponies came up and placed white flowers on the casket, Twilight walked up, with tears in her eyes, she leaned down and placed it on the casket, as well as many ponies, out of respect.

After they all did that, one of the soldiers stepped forward, and pressed the small lever, making the casket slowly descend into the ground, at this point tears once again began to spill down Comet's face, many of the guards lifted up trumpets and began playing a sad song, as if the sky began to mimic the feeling of the ponies below, drops of rain began to fall from the sky, forcing many ponies to pull out there umbrellas.

After the casket had fully set in the ground, many of the ponies began to go their separate ways, there was no longer need to stay, as they all began to disperse, Comet took one last look at his father's grave, letting one last tear fall from his eyes, he slowly turned around, and joined his family, in going back home, there was no celebrations that day, no cause to be happy, the rest of the day, the entire kingdom became silent, all mourning the loss of a true hero.

**A/N: well that was very depressing, but don't worry, there will be one more short chapter; it will be up soon, tune in then.**


	19. epilogue

**A/N: here it is the final chapter of this story, hope you've enjoyed reading it, it sure was fun writing it, read and enjoy.**

**The New Generation: epilogue**

It had now been two weeks since the funeral, and much has happened, Night Gale, Star Dust, and Crystal had returned to the university, knowing that their break was over; many ponies treated them differently, considering that they were heroes.

After his father's passing, Comet took over control over the E.S.S., just as his father would have wanted; despite the sad events two weeks before, it was still the happiest day of Comet's life.

Night Shadow and Beltway, returned to the Wolf Pack, but kept in touch with their friends, especially Dark Star, peace had once again returned to the kingdom, and our heroes planned to make the most of this.

(Canterlot castle, E.S.S. general's office)

Comet stood at the window of his new office, staring out at the beautiful view, as the sun set below the mountains, casting a large shadow over the land, as the day turned to the night, he stood there dressed in the generals clothes.

Since he was promoted, be was moved to the commanding general's office, as he stood there, the painful memories of the previous weeks returned, he felt a single tear fall down his face, he suddenly heard a knock at the door, the sudden noise, startled him, he wiped the tear away, and straightened his uniform.

"yes, come in" he said, he heard the door open, and two sets of hooves walk in, and the door close, he slowly turned around, and saw none other than, Striker and Sky Breeze, with calm looks on their faces.

"I already know why you two are here" he said as he walked over to his desk, Striker and Sky Breeze looked at each other, then Striker began to speak.

"Comet, Sky Breeze and I have talked, we know what you are going through, but we need to focus on our present situation" he said, Comet sighed, and sat down in his chair, "yes, your right, so what have you got so far" he said in a serious voice.

"well as I'm sure you are aware, the other two airships, fled the battle field, and headed north, we don't know where they went, but as we all know, they are likely to try again, and we need to be ready, Captain Shining Armor is awaiting your orders, what is it you want us to do?" he asked, Comet sighed and got up from the chair, and once again walked towards the window.

He took a deep breath, he spoke up, "alright, ready a search party, we'll start by searching the mountains, that is the most likely place they would hide, we'll find them, even if we have to hunt them down one by one, they are weak, soon they will be defeated once and for all" he said staring out the window, with a serious look.

Striker looked at Sky Breeze, they both sighed and turned and made their way out the door.

(Unknown location)

A lone pony wearing a hood, walked through the halls of an underground base, the entire thing was made of metal, they had been forced to retreat there, after their lead ship was destroyed, they received the order to retreat, and returned to base, lucky for them the royal guard had no discovered their secret hideout.

After walking for a few minutes, he came up to a metal door; he calmly raised his hoof up, and knocked, a few seconds later he heard a voice say, "yes, come in" after that he slowly opened the door, and stepped inside.

The first thing he saw was a pony hunched over at table, with what looked like a map of the kingdom, he seemed to be deep in thought, "sir, it appears Storm Lash has failed, the attack failed, and he was killed" he said in a serious tone, the other pony sighed and turned to face him, "yes, I'm well aware of our situation, however Storm's death, was a necessary loss, it gives us more time to go through with the real plan" he said as he looked at him.

"sir, why can't we just strike now, they think they've won, their defenses are down, it's the perfect time" he said getting anxious, but the other just held up his hoof stopping him, "patience lieutenant, patience, the time to strike will come soon, but for now, let them celebrate, let them believe they've won…soon a new era will dawn for this world, and it will dawn in fire" he said getting excited himself, but calmed down and turned to the lieutenant.

"Did you bring what I requested?" he asked, the lieutenant nodded, and reached under his cloak, and pulled out a folder, filled with papers, "this is all the information we could find on him, it should be enough" he said throwing it on to the desk, the leader smiled, and lifted it up and opened it, he reached inside, and pulled out a picture, an evil grin appeared on his face, as he looked it over.

"The end of equestria is near, and it will all start with you" he said as he placed it on the table, revealing it to be a picture of one of equestria's most famous war heroes, laying on the table, was a picture of none other than, Flame himself.

THE END

**A/N: well that was creepy, there you have it, the final chapter of this story, hope you all enjoyed, see you again next time, as our heroes once again fighting the ultimate evil, to save their kingdom.**


End file.
